Luscious textures, luminous shades and a ‘collector’s item’ approach to packaging, the debut of La Beauté Louis Vuitton, spearheaded by Dame Pat McGrath, creates a unique luxury experience for eyes and lips.

from left: LV Ombres eyeshadow palettes in Force of Nature 951 and Waking Dawn 650, LV Rouge lipstick in Sables Roses 111 by LA BEAUTE LOUIS VUITTON, Le Damier de Louis Vuitton rings in yellow gold and diamonds by LOUIS VUITTON Fine Jewellery

Louis Vuitton’s debut cosmetics collection was a long time in the making. Its genesis encompasses years of development overseen by the house’s cosmetics creative director, Dame Pat McGrath, but its inspiration stretches back a century to the nécessaires de voyage crafted by Louis Vuitton in the 1920s and ’30s. These small leather trunks and train cases, equipped with tortoiseshell hairbrushes and glass jars for powders and creams, were created to house the vanity mainstays of the haut monde ladies of the era. La Beauté Louis Vuitton taps into that heritage to bring back the notion that beauty essentials can, and should, be precious objects.

McGrath, whose renowned flair for statement looks has enlivened LV runways for more than 20 years, approached the collection with her typical high standards for formula performance. Each of the eight LV Ombres eyeshadow palettes contains three neutral shades and a bolder pop of colour like blue or green. The playful hues are arranged in the house’s signature flower shape in heavyweight monogrammed cases that can be refilled indefinitely, cementing their keepsake status. There are also versatile LV-embossed applicator brushes and lip balms in an array of sheer tints, but it’s the LV Rouge lipstick line-up that lands as the showstopper. Unfurling in a rainbow of richly pigmented reds, vivid corals and just-kissed pinks in matte and satin finishes, the 55 bullets are highly covetable. They even have a custom floral scent – a subtle blend of rose, jasmine and mimosa – created by the Louis Vuitton perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud. For McGrath, it was key that the new lippies should be not only beautiful but also powerful. “Lipstick is presence,” she says. “It’s a signature in a single stroke. It’s how women carry themselves in the world.”

The La Beauté Louis Vuitton collection is flush with winking references to the house’s storied history. LV in Roman numerals is 55, hence the number of lipsticks. Shade 896 is a nod to the creation of the monogram canvas in 1896; shade 854 refers to 1854, the year the maison was founded. There are eyeshadow shades inspired by leather and a lipstick case fashioned after a vintage steamer trunk. And yet the range is nothing if not modern. The eyeshadows invite you to entertain anything from watercolour washes to graphic, dense blocks of saturated metallic pigment, while the lipsticks are made with at least 85 per cent skincare-based ingredients.

Like our beloved Speedy, these cosmetics carry a certain cachet – the LV Ombres eye palette costs £190, while the lipsticks start at £120. Leave it to LVMH to make make-up an investment piece.

Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 26 out now.

LA BEAUTE LOUIS VUITTON: NEW AGE

Photographer IRINA SHESTAKOVA
Beauty Editor and Text APRIL LONG
Fashion Editor ALICIA PADRON
Model PEPPER JULIETTE at Women360
Hair CYRIL LALOUE at Wise & Talented using ORIBE Hair Care
Make-up YVANE ROCHER at Walter Schupfer Management
Photographer’s assistant MAXENCE MEYER
Fashion assistant ALISA NIKOLENKO
Producer DALE JAMES at Jones Mgmt