Louis Vuitton expands into Beauty with Pat McGrath

Louis Vuitton, the world's biggest fashion label, will begin selling beauty products this fall and has tapped British makeup artist Pat McGrath to lead creative direction for the new venture. The company is expanding its offer as the industry seeks new avenues of growth to offset a current slump.

The move by the LVMH-owned LVMH.PA label, announced in a statement on Wednesday, comes as the fashion industry, including LVMH, faces its slowest sales in years. It is struggling, in particular, to reignite interest from younger, inflation-weary shoppers.

Several high-end fashion houses, including Hermes, Valentino, and Celine, which is also owned by LVMH, have branched out into makeup in recent years. Even at the high end, where lipsticks cost over $50, makeup is more affordable than fashion handbags priced upwards of $1,000.

McGrath, whose makeup company Pat McGrath Labs sells concealers in over 30 color shades, is well-known for her influence in the fashion industry.

For John Galliano's Maison Margiela fashion show last year, one of the industry's buzziest runway outings in recent years, she famously made models look like dolls, adding a glossy sheen to their faces that resembled porcelain.

Vuitton, which already sells perfumes, will launch 55 lipsticks, 10 lip balms, and eight eyeshadows in over 100 brand stores worldwide.

Production will be in France, and the label will make leather goods for the products. Vuitton made vanity cases in the 19th century and sold powder compacts, brushes, and mirrors in the 1920s.