Louis Vuitton releasing fragrances by master perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud

Louis Vuitton is one of those sprawling luxury megabrands that has most things covered. Men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, sunglasses, watches and jewellery, and various artistic projects under Foundation Louis Vuitton make one of the world’s biggest luxury names one of its most active. And this year the brand is embarking on another territory: perfume.

Vuitton is not one to do things by halves, so when the house that made its name with travelling trunks finally unveiled the secret it had been guarding, it was a fascinating story.

In an intimate gathering in Grasse, Provence, in the south of France, the new headquarters of Louis Vuitton Parfums, the brand revealed that master perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud has created the scents, which are to be launched in September.

“It’s not just about unveiling a perfume; the first step is really about acquiring a savoir faire, a trade,” says Michael Burke, Louis Vuitton chief executive and chairman. “Perfume is a trade in itself and back in the 1920s and ’30s, Vuitton was very active – the brand came up with four different perfumes between 1927 and 1946 – so we wanted to reacquire this trade.”

However, the perfume sector today is as crowded as can be, and it seems that every fashion/lifestyle brand and celebrity from Britney Spears to Justin Bieber has pushed out their own fragrances. It’s no secret in the industry that perfume can provide a nifty entry-level product for middle-class consumers to buy into luxury, all the while amping up company profits.