Inside LVMH’s beauty shakeup amid luxury slowdown

LVMH is seemingly trying to cushion the blow of luxury beauty’s slowdown, driven by economic pressures and weakening consumer spending. The group’s business moves, and those adjacent, signal a reshuffle of its beauty portfolio as it hunts for growth in a cooling market. 

Recent and rumored deals involving Fenty Beauty and Remedy reveal how the luxury conglomerate and its affiliates are repositioning in a softening luxury beauty market.

At the top of the portfolio, LVMH may be parting with one of its highest-profile beauty assets. MarcyPen Capital Partners has reportedly emerged as a contender to buy its 50% stake in Fenty Beauty. 

Lower down, LVMH’s affiliated money is still flowing in. Dermatologist-developed skin care brand Remedy just raised US$20 million in a Series A led by L Catterton, the LVMH-affiliated, independently run private equity firm. 

Meanwhile, the market handed the group a reminder of its exposure to forces beyond beauty. 

After a proposed US–Iran deal outlined a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, luxury stocks spiked, with LVMH up about 5%. Underneath the stock rally, LVMH’s balance sheet has previously taken a hit, losing approximately €100 billion (US$116.1 billion) in market value over the past 12 months amid a broad slowdown in luxury demand. 

The cluster of recent moves points to where LVMH is using, or trying to gain, money, and indicates efforts to steady the business. 

Fenty Beauty buyout?

According to sources familiar with the matter, MarcyPen Capital Partners, an investment firm backed by rapper Jay-Z, is pursuing LVMH’s 50% stake in Fenty Beauty. 

Singer Rihanna launched the inclusive makeup brand in partnership with Kendo Brands in 2017. She retains ownership of the remaining 50%. 

MarcyPen has been reportedly weighing multiple financing options for the transaction, including discussions with outside investors. The firm manages approximately US$1.1 billion in assets, including makeup brand Merit Beauty and period care and skin care brand Rael. 

MarcyPen Capital Partners is not new to Rihanna’s orbit. Its predecessor, Marcy Venture Partners, took part in funding rounds for her lingerie label Savage X Fenty in 2019 and 2022.

Last year, people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Fenty Beauty could be valued between US$1–2 billion. The brand generated approximately US$450 million of net sales in 2024. 

The potential sale to MarcyPen fits into a wider reshuffle of LVMH’s beauty portfolio. The group is also reportedly exploring options for Make Up For Ever and skin care brand Fresh. 

LVMH may sell its stake in Fenty Beauty as it reshapes its beauty portfolio.Remedy funding 

Dermatologist-developed skin care brand, Remedy, has raised US$20 million in funding. The series A funding round was led by L Catterton, a private equity firm created by LVMH, Groupe Arnault, and Catterton. 

L Catterton is LVMH-affiliated and operates independently with about US$40 billion in equity capital. It is the largest global consumer-focused investment firm. 

The funding round also featured participation from existing investor Norwest and new investor Sonoma Brands Capital. 

The investment aims to support plans to deepen Remedy’s capabilities across formulation, testing, and consumer education as it continues to build a scaled dermocosmetic platform. The makeup brand also wants to use the money to advance clinical research, expand its pipeline of dermatologist-developed products, and improve inventory depth to meet increasing demand across DTC, Amazon, and Target. 

Remedy says it has experienced significant growth across all online channels, including its direct-to-consumer website, Amazon, and TikTok Shop. The business also reports breakout success in Target following its December 2025 nationwide launch in the retailer.

“We seek to partner with exceptional founders building brands that will redefine categories, and we believe Remedy is uniquely modernizing dermatological skin care,” says Tehmina Haider, Partner at L Catterton. 

Remedy, founded by board-certified dermatologist Dr. Muneeb Shah popular in the social media skin care space, created the brand to mirror the way dermatologists approach skin in a clinic. 

“Each formula starts with a real patient need. We then innovate with the latest ingredient technologies to create clinically tested, high-efficacy formulas with a focus on visible results and safety for sensitive skin,” says Shah. 

The brand’s portfolio addresses concerns such as dark spots, dryness, fine lines, dullness, keratosis pilaris, and sensitive skin. 

“As both a clinician and a consumer educator, Shah has built a portfolio of simple, effective, and accessibly priced products that leverage advanced ingredient technologies to address real patient needs — and that is what will define the next generation of dermocosmetics. The brand’s rapid growth reflects deep consumer demand for affordable, clinically-grounded skin care,” adds Haider.

Luxury comeback?

Luxury stocks spiked after a proposed US–Iran deal was revealed. According to Iran state media, the tentative peace deal outlines reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting US oil sanctions. After the announcement, LVMH’s shares rose about 5%. 

Luxury stocks, beauty included, have been hit by the Iran war. The Middle East had been a fast-growing market for an otherwise muted sector. The war broke out in February, just as the sector was showing signs of recovery from a years-long slump driven by soft demand from Chinese consumers, once one of its main growth engines. 

For LVMH, the Middle East region accounts for about 6% of group sales. 

In April, LVMH flagged a 1% negative impact from the Iran war in the previous quarter, cutting quarterly organic growth in half. The war overshadowed underlying improvements. 

“LVMH maintained its powerful innovative momentum and showed good resilience in a geopolitical and economic environment that remained disrupted, amplified by the conflict in the Middle East,” said the company at the time.

The next week, the CEO of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, warned of a “world catastrophe” if the war was not resolved.

Slower luxury spending is putting pressure on beauty and fashion companies.According to consulting firm Bain & Company, the global luxury market lost 20 million customers between 2024 and 2025. This was on top of 50 million who had exited in prior years. 

Economic whirlwinds

LVMH has lost approximately €100 billion (US$116 billion) in market value over the past year. The figure can be attributed to a broad cooling in luxury demand and a shrinking base of high-end shoppers, particularly in China, which has weighed on its shares.

Beauty has not been spared. In 2025, LVMH’s fragrances and cosmetics sales fell 3% to €8.17 billion (US$9.48 billion), as declines in Asia, Japan, and the US outweighed growth in Europe and the Middle East. 

The pressure carried into 2026. First-quarter sales were dragged down by softening demand for perfumes and cosmetics, partly offset by Sephora. 

For now, LVMH’s response has leaned on cost discipline and margin protection, with management striking a cautious note on the year ahead even as it bets on a return to growth. With demand cooling in China and the US and the aspirational consumer base thinning, the group may now be leaning on AI to defend margins.

Investing in AI 

LVMH, and the family behind it, are channeling capital into AI — a bet on where long-term advantage in luxury will be built. 

Theker, a company building AI-native generalist robots for industrial production environments, today announced a US$85 million funding round, making it the largest robotics Series A round ever raised in Europe. The round was led by CRV, with participation from LVMH. 

The move marks LVMH’s first investment in the Spanish start-up ecosystem. 

Theker is building what it calls a “new category” of industrial robotics: AI-native generalist robots designed to adapt in real-time to changing environments, mixed stock keeping units, irregular shapes, and operational variability — all without manual reprogramming.