Richa Chopra

Why Louis Vuitton’s $160 Lipstick Is a Power Move Unpopular opinion: Louis Vuitton’s $160 lipstick isn’t just makeup. It’s a cultural experiment in luxury’s future. Louis Vuitton has been teasing beauty for years. Perfumes, skincare and then, a beauty line that was “in the pipeline”. It would be exciting to see the world’s most valuable luxury house extending its reach into a category that commands loyalty, frequency, and cultural heat. LV has officially launched its beauty line with lipsticks priced at $160 apiece & eyeshadow palettes at $250. And obviously, it has ignited a global debate. Luxury beauty is not new: CHANEL made its lipsticks ($40–50) the most democratic gateway into its double C universe Dior perfected the $45 lipstick as both an everyday indulgence and a halo product for couture Hermès pushed into beauty in 2020 with $75 lipsticks, doubling the benchmark, yet winning with leather-inspired packaging and artisanal positioning Gucci Beauty played at $42–55, amplifying its playful maximalism Each move followed the same logic; expand the brand, welcome new customers, and create cultural relevance through beauty. But Vuitton has chosen a bolder script. Instead of accessible entry, it has crafted entry-level Vuitton. These lipsticks are not just cosmetics, they are objects of desire with sculptural bullets, monogrammed embossing, gilded packaging. The product is designed to sit on a vanity the way a trunk sits in a salon as status, as symbol. Which led me to think about the Lipstick Index, the long-standing idea that lipstick sales rise in times of economic uncertainty as consumers turn to affordable luxuries. Chanel and Dior lipsticks embody this, Hermès tested its limits but still played within the “indulgence” zone. Vuitton, however, has opted out entirely. A $160 lipstick is not recession comfort, its not an alternative to a handbag, it is a collectible disguised as a cosmetic; a mini-signal of belonging to the Vuitton world, priced high enough to protect exclusivity, but just small enough to seduce the curious. BUT: Can beauty function at Vuitton’s pricing tier? Or does it risk alienating the broader beauty consumer? Will this be adopted by beauty enthusiasts, or only by LV loyalists and collectors? Is this the start of a new category of “luxury collectibles” within beauty, where scarcity and packaging outweigh utility? Because Vuitton isn’t selling color, it’s selling cultural cachet, compressed into a lipstick bullet. What’s at stake isn’t sales (they’ll sell out anyway). It’s whether Vuitton can reshape the luxury beauty playbook the same way it did with leather goods. Whether these lipsticks mark the start of a long-standing category, or remain the brand’s most extravagant experiment. The world will debate the price tag. But make no mistake: LV has just redrawn the lines of luxury beauty. #LuxuryBeauty #LipstickIndex #LuxuryStrategy #LVinBeauty #LuxuryInnovation #CulturalTrends #LuxuryMarketing #RichaReflects

See more. Be more. Excited to share my new role! #newrole‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍ Unpopular opinion: Your MBA case studies can become your future job description, if you’re stubborn enough to wait it out. When I was at SDA Bocconi in Milan, we dissected how EssilorLuxottica built its competitive advantage through vertical integration, brand licensing mastery, and a firm grip on market share. Back then, it was just theory. Today, it’s my everyday reality. I’m thrilled to share that I’ve joined EssilorLuxottica as Assistant Brand Manager, Marketing (Frames), handling the Luxury & Premium portfolio of 25+ brands — including CHANEL, Prada, Miu Miu, Burberry, DOLCE&GABBANA, Versace, Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, Emporio Armani, Coach, and SWAROVSKI. More than six months of job search, hundreds of applications, countless cold messages later, this opportunity reminds me that fate may open the door, but effort walks you through it. The part I’m most excited about? Working with brand teams across the globe, where every frame isn’t just eyewear, but storytelling, aspiration, and identity. If “See more. Be more.” is the motto of EssilorLuxottica, then for me it’s also a reminder that luxury isn’t only about seeing the world differently, but about building the courage to step into the very world you once studied from the outside. Here’s to the challenges, the learnings, and the vision ahead. 👓✨ #NewBeginnings #CareerJourney #LuxuryBusiness #LuxuryMarketing #EssilorLuxottica #SeeMoreBeMore #LuxuryBrands #RichaReflects‍‍‍

Can't believe I was invited to LinkedIn's office in Gurugram! ✨ Unpopular opinion: The real power of LinkedIn isn’t the algorithm, it’s the people who make it meaningful. When I started posting consistently in April, I never imagined myself as a LinkedIn creator. Fast forward to today, I found myself at the Insider Connect program, with 60 creators chosen from 800+. The highlight? Hearing from Kumaresh Pattabiraman, Head of LinkedIn India, on why Insight >> Information will define LinkedIn’s future. If I had to bookmark the day in a few takeaways: - Virality without value is noise, and even platforms admit it’s a problem worth solving. - Hyperlocal and specific will always outlast generic and viral, that’s how real resonance is built. - Growth isn’t about saying yes to everything; it’s about saying no for the right reasons. And yet, my biggest learning wasn’t about content; it was about community. Posts definitely gave me reach, but it is the community that has given me resonance. Algorithms will keep shifting, but the people who write, reflect, and share here? They are the true infrastructure of this platform. Here’s to building meaning, not just chasing metrics, and to making LinkedIn the world’s most trusted knowledge platform. A big thank you to Raunak Ramteke, Nakul Ghai, and Ankita Sil for making this possible. And to Mahak Agrawal, Akshat Kharbanda, Vinamra Agrawal, Lavanya Gupta, Takesh Singh, siddharth dwivedi, Akash G M, Satish Kumar, and Sanskriti Pandey CA for the wonderful conversations. #LinkedInInsiderConnect #LinkedInIndia #FutureOfDesire #CreatorJourney #RichaReflects