La Beauté Louis Vuitton introduces a limited-edition holiday collection devoted to Monogram Rouge, the burnished red shade created by Dame Pat McGrath. Lipsticks, tinted balm and eyeshadow receive burgundy packaging, accompanied by small leather goods in coordinating canvas. The release arrives during the Monogram’s 130th anniversary year, giving the collection’s signature color a connection to the date behind its name.
MAKEUP
The number 896 refers to 1896, when Georges Vuitton created the Monogram in tribute to his father, Louis. McGrath developed Monogram Rouge by drawing on the canvas’s brown tones and the color of classic red lipstick. Part of La Beauté Louis Vuitton since its debut, the shade now supplies the palette for the house’s holiday beauty edition.
Pat McGrath, Louis Vuitton’s Cosmetics Creative Director, describes a personal attachment to Monogram Rouge dating to its creation. She conceived the holiday collection as a tribute to the shade and its place within the beauty line, giving it dedicated packaging that she hopes customers will keep after finishing the makeup.
Burgundy lacquered aluminium cases give the collection its seasonal treatment. Gold accents frame the red surfaces, and hand-painted Monogram flowers decorate the rings. The lipsticks are refillable: their inserts carry a Monogram Flower emblem and click into the metal cases through a locking mechanism. The packaging can therefore remain in use after the original lipstick runs out.
The color began with LV Rouge Satin in 896 Monogram Rouge, whose luminous finish brings out the depth of the red-brown shade. For the holiday edition, LV Rouge Matte introduces a velvety version with a softer, diffused appearance. McGrath had considered a matte interpretation for some time, drawn to the way a velvet finish can give red greater depth and intensity while softening its appearance.
The matte lipstick promises 12-hour color wear and moisture retention. The satin version offers eight-hour luminous color, 24-hour hydration and all-day comfort. Both formulas contain rose, jasmine and mimosa waxes, shea butter and hyaluronic acid spheres. Louis Vuitton’s Master Perfumer, Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, also used mimosa, rose and jasmine for their fragrance.
LV Baume in Monogram Touch translates the shade into a translucent burgundy-brown tint. Its buildable coverage allows a sheer application, with a mint-and-raspberry fragrance composed by Cavallier Belletrud and a formula that promises 48-hour hydration.
The canvas’s brown palette becomes particularly apparent in LV Ombres in 896 Monogram Rouge. Three brown shades, including warm caramel tones, accompany a satin eyeshadow in the signature burnished red. Four petal-shaped pans form a Monogram Flower inside an embossed red compact. Each shade can be refilled separately, allowing individual colors to be replaced as they run out.
The accompanying small leather goods return these cosmetic colors to canvas. Burgundy pouches and mini vanities carry the holiday treatment into makeup storage and travel, with an eyeshadow pouch, cosmetic lipstick pouch, mattifying paper case and lip-and-eye brush set among the accessories.
