If you’re a beauty enthusiast, you’ve likely come across Pat McGrath Labs. If not, it’s understandable, given that McGrath shies away from heavy marketing or citywide pop-ups like many beauty brands. Instead, her reputation alone propels her brand. Launched in 2015, Pat McGrath Labs quickly rose to fame for its high quality products and bold, creative aesthetics, celebrated for their rich pigmentation and longevity.
For the past 20 years, life has been hectic for McGrath juggling three main responsibilities — her eponymous brand PatMcGrath Labs, creating backstage beauty looks for fashion weeks, and formulating beauty lines for equally well known luxury labels such as Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and Gucci Beauty.
It’s great and much-awaited news for the beauty industry and beauty consumers to hear that French couturier Louis Vuitton is launching its first, much anticipated venture into make-up – La Beauté Louis Vuitton – with McGrath at the helm. Stepping into the newly-created role of creative director of cosmetics at the house, McGrath has been working on this special launch for the past four years. In a dialogue between Nicholas Ghesquière and McGrath, she reveals that her love for make-up was ignited by her mum, “This starts for me as a child. My mum would force me to go and shop for make-up with her. We had a routine and it ended up being what I love doing. We’d start by looking at the Vogue patterns. I’d have to go and look at all the patterns with her… I was crying, I didn’t want to do it.” she continues. “So my whole life was this. Every week. Going to look at the patterns, going to look for the right fabric, going to look for the makeup. And most importantly, looking for pigments that were right for our skin colour. I was the youngest one and had to do it. Back then there were not too many pigments, they didn’t exist.” she continues. “My whole room, wardrobe and eventually life became a mood board. I have been doing this since I was five. Now this is my safe space.”
Pat McGrath’s ascent to becoming a dame is not just about her skill with a makeup brush but also her strategic collaborations that have redefined fashion runways and broadened the horizons of beauty. (She is also the only makeup artist to have received the title of ‘Dame’ from the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2021.) Among her most famous collaborations, her work with Prada stands out. McGrath has been the key makeup artist for Prada’s runway shows for many years, setting beauty trends that resonate well beyond the fashion elite. Her ability to create looks that complement Prada’s aesthetic while pushing the boundaries of mainstream makeup has been nothing short of revolutionary.
Answering the obvious question, can both the brands co-exist? Pat reveals in a global exclusive to Vogue, “Of course! La Beauté Louis Vuitton is the absolute highest level of craftsmanship. With product development, I have always been obsessed with the smallest details and the perfection needed in product texture… the precise application methods, just the right amount of pigment payoff, and how products should make you feel,” she says.
“Pushing boundaries in formula innovation and sensory exploration is part of my own brand’s DNA. It can really lead to groundbreaking results and this new venture is no different.”
Louis Vuitton may not have a beauty and skincare line as of now, but it launched the perfume line, ‘Les Parfums Louis Vuitton’ in September 2016. This marked the brand’s significant entry into the fragrance market under the expertise of master perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud. The launch reintroduced Louis Vuitton into the perfume industry after a long hiatus, with the brand having released its last scent in the early 20th century. The 2016 collection featured a range of seven fragrances, each designed to convey a journey and evoke emotions related to travel and exploration, themes deeply ingrained in Louis Vuitton’s heritage.
Creating collectibles
Set to debut in 115 stores globally, La Beauté Louis Vuitton will redefine luxury beauty standards. For those of us who cherish every detail in our makeup, from the pigment to the packaging, this launch is not just exciting — it is said to be monumental. As a fashion journalist witnessing this historic moment, I can’t help but feel that we’re on the cusp of a new era in beauty, where heritage will meet modern beauty expectations from its customers. But what will truly set this launch apart are the bespoke leather goods designed to encase these beauties — lipstick cases and miniature trunks that echo the maison’s iconic luggage pieces. These aren’t designed to be only makeup products; they’re collectibles, each imbued with the history and artistry of Louis Vuitton.
And while the exact shades and packaging have yet to be revealed, McGrath lets us know that the LV signatures are very much present, and they will go beyond being inspired by the house’s iconic vanity cases and trunks. “It’s about the art of living,” she explains. “It’s the textures of the leathers, the colours from the collections, the codes of the house – these have all been springboards to the imagination and every detail has been considered with the same level of artistry as the maison’s most legendary creations.”
It’s safe to say that we can expect to cherish each piece as an heirloom, just as we would a Louis Vuitton trunk, a handbag or a piece from its ready-to-wear collection.
