Why Louis Vuitton's $160 Lipstick Has Everyone Mad

Louis Vuitton launching makeup was always going to generate buzz. It’s the world’s biggest luxury brand, and among the last of the mega labels to release its own beauty line. Rivals like Chanel and Armani have sold cosmetics and perfume for decades; more recently, Hermés, Gucci, Prada and others have made splashy entrances into the category. But when the collection was revealed on Tuesday, it wasn’t the packaging designed by furniture designer Konstantin Grcic, or even the involvement of legendary makeup artist Pat McGrath that seemed to capture the public’s attention. Instead, it was the prices. At $160 for a single lipstick or lip balm, and $250 for a slimline eyeshadow palette, Louis Vuitton has priced its cosmetics in an entirely new galaxy of inaccessibility. That took some doing. Beauty shoppers have gotten used to eye-wateringly high prices for certain items: It’s not unusual for a fragrance from a hot brand to cost upwards of $200, and luxury skincare brands like La Mer and La Prairie have well-established customer bases for their $300+ creams. Most of those items were launched in a different era, when consumers were more willing to buy the proposition that a luxury brand’s products were worth the higher price. That relationship is more strained today, in the era of dupes and sweatshop allegations, and many high-end fashion brands reporting slumping sales. LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton is also departing from the beauty playbook in applying sky-high prices to cosmetics