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At a time when the biggest luxury labels are economising and scrambling to cater to middle-of-the-road customers, Louis Vuitton has done something rather audacious.

LV just dropped its first beauty collection, La Beauté, which lines up 55 lipsticks, 10 lip balms, and eight quad eyeshadow palettes, created by Dame Pat McGrath’s label Pat McGrath Labs. Everything seemed peachy until beauty lovers noted the price tag, which can make you scream, ‘not in this economy!’

Louis Vuitton’s makeup line has sky-high prices… but why?

LV’s beauty line has 55 lipsticks 10 lip balms at $160 each (roughly INR 13,928), and eight eyeshadow palettes, priced at $250 (INR 21,762). The collection will launch on August 20 in China, followed by a worldwide digital pre-launch on August 25.

“I wanted to launch with both lips and eyes, because together, they allow you to create a full character,” says Pat McGrath, who was tapped as the creative director of La Beauté earlier this year. McGrath observed how beauty buyers love experimenting with the profiles of their products, using lipstick as blush and switching things up. “A bold eye paired with a soft lip or the reverse — It’s all about the power of play.”

The products can satisfy logomaniacs with the hyper-publicised LV monogram and Damier motifs in packaging created by Konstantin Grcic. Refills are $69 and $92 for lips and eyes, respectively — the recyclable concept might make a case for its hefty price tag. However, it’s crucial to note that other luxury giants, Chanel, Dior, and Hermes, all offer cheaper beauty alternatives which already have a standing in the market.

To be clear, it’s not the first time a lipstick this expensive has been launched in the luxury market. Dior launched a special edition lipstick priced at $500 in 2023, the same year French luxury house Guerlain released its limited fragrance at an eyewatering $27,000.

But premiering a beauty range with $160 lipsticks? One expects it from Dior or Armani, but LV has pandered heavily to the aspirational, logo-hounding buyers who can buy a Hermés Silky Lipstick at half the price (seriously, it’s $80).

$250 eye shadow palettes may scream out-of-touch, but LV remains a heritage brand with a rich legacy in luxury; Pat McGrath’s association no doubt ups the ante for LV’s debut beauty range, but the prices can lead to the brand losing out on its core buyer base.

It’s possible LV is simply not looking to make it super accessible and is strengthening its brand value. The beauty collection will only be available in Louis Vuitton’s owned retail stores, where no doubt the visual merchandising can be closely monitored.

In a press release, McGrath said, “I have always been obsessed with the smallest of details: the perfection needed in product texture, the precise application methods… how products should make you feel,” she said.

“I always like to push boundaries with makeup — and this métier is no different.”

For loyalists it’s a sticky situation; they are likely to test the overpriced waters of an upcycled flower wax perfume. But the bigger picture brings into the foray many questions. LV’s Parent company LVMH reported a 9 per cent decline in its fashion and leather goods division in the second quarter of 2025, and this segment includes LV.

In fact, during the most recent earnings call, LVMH CFO Cécile Cabanis said the group would focus on LV’s accessible categories, including fragrance, small leather goods and makeup. But that strategy hardly aligns with $250 eye shadow palette and $160 lip balms in a market which has some pretty key legacy players and some solid new names. If its positioning over accessibility, LV can benefit from taking a page from Chanel’s book and making a play for a broad buyer base.

Reports suggest that beauty accounts for a third of Chanel’s business, and e-commerce sales of fragrance and beauty products increased globally by 50% year-over-year in 2017-18. Beauty is often considered the most accessibly entry point into luxury and that aspect has not changed.

But now, with luxury sales slowing down and shoppers cutting back, buyers may not have the appetite for Louis Vuitton’s makeup, especially if labels from the same segment have economical options that value quality.

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