Holiday Ayo - After producing handbags, clothing, watches, jewelry, shoes, perfume, and chocolate, the Louis Vuitton brand will launch a cosmetic product collection.

Channel News Asia on Wednesday (3/5) quoted a report from The Financial Times stating that the luxury brand has appointed British makeup artist Pat McGrath as creative director of the cosmetics business.

The cosmetic product collection which includes 55 lipsticks (for the Roman numeral LV), 10 lip balms, and eight eyeshadow palettes will be launched this fall at 116 Louis Vuitton stores.

The makeup product collection will be complemented by leather goods in the form of small boxes and lipstick pouches inspired by the design of the cosmetic box first produced by the company in 1854.

The company said that the formula and packaging of the cosmetic products are all made in France and the complementary leather goods are produced at the Louis Vuitton studio in Europe.

The cosmetics line is chief executive Pietro Beccari’s first major venture since joining Louis Vuitton from Dior early last year, and marks another step in Vuitton’s evolution from a luxury fashion entity to a “cultural brand.”

“Beauty is part of people’s lives, young people, men and women, everyone,” Beccari said in a video call from Paris.

“We want to be there,” he said.

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Louis Vuitton is seen as a latecomer to the already crowded “prestige” cosmetics market.

Prada, Celine and Dries Van Noten have introduced cosmetics in the past five years, while Burberry returned to the category last year, joining established luxury players such as Chanel, Dior, Giorgio Armani and YSL Beauty.

But Louis Vuitton has a stellar track record of breaking into established categories such as jewelry and fragrance, according to Erwan Rambourg, an HSBC analyst and former Cartier executive.

When he launched his fragrances in 2016, he credited Louis Vuitton for breaking into the market by selling them only in Vuitton stores and in beautiful packaging.

"What's more crowded than a fragrance?" Beccari said.

"We did it in a certain way, with Frank Gehry packaging, with materials that are durable and very rich and rare. We could sell for more than anyone else, and we had no distribution costs," he explained.

The company would follow suit with its cosmetics. Louis Vuitton gave McGrath, the founder of the Pat McGrath Labs makeup line, complete freedom to develop the formulas and packaging of its cosmetics.

"He knew where we could be unique," Beccari said.

"We were one of the few companies that could ask him to do projects without limits, to imagine the best product, the best color," he said.

McGrath said there was no compromise when it came to product development. He wanted to have products for all skin tones and make everyone feel included.

Louis Vuitton cosmetics will only be distributed in the company's stores, of which there are more than 400 worldwide.

"At Louis Vuitton, we have a few taboos and one of them is distribution; every Louis Vuitton product is sold by the hands of Louis Vuitton," Beccari said.