Lip Service

From Gucci to Hermès, fashion Maisons are the “newcomers” that are stepping into the beauty fray by dressing our pouts in luxe lipsticks

- Joyce Fan

Luxury fashion houses dabbling with beauty. Groundbreaking? Not exactly. Chanel and Dior were early pioneers of “the perfume strategy” after debuting the widely acclaimed Chanel No. 5 and Parfums Christian Dior back in 1921 and 1947, respectively. Considered to be way ahead of their time then, these two fashion-and beauty juggernauts would soon diversify beyond designer perfumes and step into scientific skincare and color cosmetics, which have celebrated great success through the decades.

From there, it was only a matter of time before the other reputable couture houses, such as Givenchy and YSL, as well as Burberry, made equally daring moves to go beyond their core offerings and capitalize on their rich heritage coupled with the more accessible beauty industry.

Fast forward to present time, the beauty scene has enjoyed significant growth while fashion powerhouses constantly push for innovation and actively broaden their product categories. In recent months, there has been a surge of high-end fashion labels aiming for a bigger slice of the lucrative beauty pie. What is even more interesting to note is that they are making their debut in the realm of cosmetics with the one item every fashionista simply cannot go without a good lipstick.