Almost three weeks ago, news broke about Louis Vuitton’s upcoming beauty line. The launch is scheduled for September, with Pat McGrath appointed as Cosmetics Creative Director. The announcement was picked up by all major fashion business media outlets.
As I was reading through the coverage, I thought — this is a great example of how a brand can take control of the narrative (something LVMH struggles with, as mentioned in the section on communication strategies in the 2Jour Gazette special edition on LVMH). Although, to be fair, Louis Vuitton quite often uses this trick of engaging the audience before the official release of anything.
The cherry on top was a Financial Times Weekend article, which quoted Louis Vuitton CEO Pietro Beccari from a video call in Paris. When I read that piece, I was left with mixed feelings. So I set those thoughts aside for a while — to let them settle.
On Monday, as I was scrolling through LVMH’s news section, I noticed that nearly three weeks later, the group had published its own update on the topic — with a confident headline:
Louis Vuitton reinvents the beauty universe with La Beauté Louis Vuitton.
The message was a little different — perhaps it had time to "settle," too. Still, not perfect.
Why the messaging left me feeling conflicted — that’s what I unpack further.
But before you dive in, here is one sure thing: never reference another brand from the same group portfolio in a negative light — as Pietro Beccari did. In fact, avoid mentioning brands outside the group as well.
CONTENTS
1. Context.
3. Conclusion.