Louis Vuitton — no longer content to produce merely handbags, clothes, watches, jewellery, shoes, perfumes and chocolate — will soon introduce a new category, or “métier”: cosmetics.

Luxury’s largest brand by revenues, which reached an estimated €21.9bn last year, has tapped British make-up artist Pat McGrath as creative director of the new venture, which will launch this autumn in 116 Louis Vuitton stores with 55 lipsticks (for the Roman numeral LV), 10 lip balms and eight eye shadow palettes.

Accompanying the make-up will be a range of leather goods to cosset them, including small trunks and lipstick pouches that draw on the designs of vanity cases the company first produced in 1854. The formulas and packaging are all being manufactured in France, and the leather goods at Louis Vuitton’s European ateliers, the company said.

The range expands the brand’s offer of entry-level products following steep price increases in handbags, jewellery and other core luxury categories across the industry since 2020, which have alienated young shoppers who no longer see the value in expensive luxury goods. It is also 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 into a “cultural brand”.