Louis Vuitton launches first fragrance for men

While most luxury brands have long had fragrances for men, Louis Vuitton has finally entered the crowded men's fragrance arena. It's hard to believe it took them so long, given parent company LVMH's portfolio of other fragrances tied to their luxury brands like Dior and Givenchy. LVMH is also the parent company of cosmetics enterprise Sephora.

In 2016, Louis Vuitton launched a fragrance for women that quickly found success among their loyal customer base and those who found the fragrance one of the more accessibly priced things among Louis Vuitton's product offerings. This May, the fashion house will unveil its first fragrance for men crafted by master perfumer Jacque Cavallier Belletrud. The fourth-generation perfumer started his career at age 16, and has been working on the new Louis Vuitton men's fragrance since 2013.

The launch of Louis Vuitton's men's fragrance comes during a big shift for their men's business as Off-White's Virgil Abloh has been named creative director of menswear for the brand. Abloh will debut his first menswear collection for the brand at Paris Fashion Week Men's in June.

As men are becoming more invested in fashion thanks to the rise of streetwear culture, they are becoming more invested in their fragrances as well. "Men are becoming more sophisticated," Belletrud said to the South China Morning Post. "In the same way they buy interesting shoes and clothes now they do it with perfumes. Those who don’t know still go for the sporty, commercial fragrances, but now more men are not afraid of trying new things and are attracted to what you would have considered feminine fragrances in the past. Men worldwide want to achieve sophistication and find a perfume that will be their ambassador in their social life and with lovers."

The company is hoping that these fragrances will resonate well with East Asian consumers in a market that is considered priority for luxury brands, but where fragrances haven't always been a big part of market share. However, according to Belletrud, LVMH has been successful with their fragrances in Asia recently. Louis Vuitton's men's business is the new tip of LVMH's iceberg, as they have also installed former Louis Vuitton menswear director Kim Jones as creative director of Dior Homme, former Dior Homme creative director Kris van Assche has been named creative director of Berluti, and Berluti's creative director Haider Ackermann has departed the company. LVMH has completely overhauled their men's business as menswear has become a more major frontier in fashion.

photo: via Louisvuitton.cm