I had never heard of L Catterton until I was doing research on Stripes Beauty. Movie star Naomi Watts launched Stripes Beauty in 2022 to address the physical and emotional changes associated with perimenopause and menopause.
The company had a complicated beginning. Its original biotechnology partner, Amyris, filed for bankruptcy in 2023, and Stripes was subsequently sold. In 2024, consumer-focused private-equity firm L Catterton acquired the brand, with Watts remaining closely involved as founder and creative force. Did you know any of this?
At first glance, this looks like an investment in another celebrity beauty brand. Look more closely, however, and it represents something much bigger: a serious institutional bet on menopause, healthy ageing and the rapidly expanding female longevity economy. It also introduces us to one of the most influential forces behind consumer brands today.
Who is L Catterton?
L Catterton is a global private-equity firm specializing in consumer businesses. It has approximately $40 billion in assets under management and has made more than 300 investments since its founding in 1989.
The firm assumed its present structure in 2016, when Catterton partnered with LVMH and Groupe Arnault, the family holding company of LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault.
L Catterton is not simply an investment division of LVMH. It is a separate firm. However, the relationship allows it to collaborate with LVMH in areas such as consumer insight, brand strategy, retail expansion and economies of scale.
That is a considerable advantage.
Capital can help a company produce more merchandise, open stores or enter new markets. But access to the thinking behind some of the world’s most powerful luxury houses offers something harder to buy: an understanding of how an ordinary product can be transformed into a desirable global brand.
Which brands has L Catterton backed?
Its current and historical investments read like a remarkably diverse tour through modern consumer culture.
In fashion and luxury, the firm has backed brands including Birkenstock, GANNI, ETRO and Savage X Fenty.
In beauty and personal care, its investments have included KIKO Milano, ODDITY—the company behind Il Makiage and SpoiledChild—The Honest Company, TULA Skincare, Kopari and Frederic Fekkai.
Its wellness and fitness investments have included Equinox, Peloton, ClassPass, Tonal, Solidcore and Thorne.
The wider portfolio has also featured names such as Restoration Hardware, Boll & Branch, Cholula, Norwegian Cruise Line and AmaWaterways.
Notably, not every company on that list remains in L Catterton’s current portfolio. Some investments have been sold, partially realized or taken public. That is part of the private-equity model: identify potential, provide capital and operational expertise, expand the business and eventually realize the investment.
Birkenstock may be its most compelling demonstration. L Catterton acquired a majority stake in the German footwear company in 2021. Birkenstock was already historic, recognizable and beloved—but it still had enormous unrealized global potential. The brand went public in New York in 2023, while L Catterton retained a significant interest.
The lesson is important: investors do not always need to invent the next great consumer desire. Sometimes the opportunity lies in recognizing that an established, emotionally resonant brand could become much bigger with better positioning, distribution and operational support.
What does the portfolio tell us?
L Catterton says its investment approach begins with categories rather than individual companies. It studies the demographic, psychological, technological and economic changes affecting what consumers want—and then looks for businesses positioned to benefit.
Its portfolio reveals several powerful consumer movements:
Comfort is becoming premium.
Wellness is becoming lifestyle.
Beauty is becoming increasingly specialized and personal.
Consumers are spending more on experiences, health and self-optimization.
Digital-native brands still need physical retail and operational infrastructure to achieve scale.
And women who were historically overlooked—including women navigating menopause—are finally being recognized as commercially important consumers.
This is what makes the Stripes Beauty investment especially interesting.
L Catterton is not betting only on Naomi Watts’s celebrity. It is betting on a demographic reality. Women are living longer, remaining professionally and economically active later in life and demanding products designed for the decades beyond traditional beauty marketing’s narrow obsession with youth.
Stripes sits at the intersection of beauty, wellness, education, healthy ageing and personal identity. Those categories are increasingly merging into one enormous longevity market.
The real business of L Catterton
L Catterton does not merely invest in products.
It invests in shifts in consumer behaviour—and in brands capable of turning those shifts into emotionally meaningful, scalable businesses.
The firm’s relationship with LVMH makes the story more fascinating, but its portfolio is not confined to conventional luxury. A sandal, a bottle of hot sauce, a fitness class, a menopause supplement and a cruise may appear to have very little in common.
A sandal — Birkenstock
A bottle of hot sauce — Cholula
A fitness class — ClassPass, Equinox or Solidcore
A menopause supplement — Stripes Beauty
A cruise — Norwegian Cruise Line or AmaWaterways
What connects them is the consumer. Each successful brand answers a desire that is practical, emotional or aspirational—and preferably all three.
If you want to understand where consumer culture may be heading next, watch what people buy.
If you want to understand which of those behaviours sophisticated investors believe can become enormous businesses, watch where L Catterton puts its money.
Stripes Beauty may have led me to the firm.
But the larger discovery is this: behind many of the brands shaping how we dress, exercise, travel, age and care for ourselves sits an investor quietly studying what consumers will want next. Does your brand need such an investor?
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