Who Owns Patou? LVMH, Designer Parfums and the 2018 Split

Patou is owned by LVMH. The group announced a strategic agreement with
Designer Parfums in September 2018 and took a majority stake in the clothing division, then
dropped the founder’s first name so the maison trades as Patou rather than Jean Patou. The
fragrance business, including Joy, stayed with Designer Parfums. That is the whole answer, but
the detail is worth having, because the split is why the clothes and the perfume behave like
two different brands.

The ownership chain, in order

• 1914 to 1936: Jean Patou owns and runs the house.
• 1936 onward: after his death, his sister Madeleine and her husband
  Raymond Barbas take over.
• 1987: couture stops. The fashion business winds down after Christian
  Lacroix leaves to open his own house.
• 2001 to 2011: Procter & Gamble markets the perfumes, which is what
  keeps the name alive.
• 2011: the British group Designer Parfums takes over the fragrance
  business.
• September 2018: LVMH signs a strategic agreement with Designer Parfums
  and assumes a majority stake in the clothing division. Sidney Toledano, president of the
  LVMH fashion group, appoints Guillaume Henry to relaunch the ready-to-wear.

Why the split matters when you shop

Two practical consequences. First, the ready-to-wear, bags, jewellery and accessories you
see at Coveti come from the LVMH-owned fashion business. Second, Joy and the other
fragrances are a separate operation, sold through different channels, and Coveti does not
stock them. If you are searching for Joy you are looking for the perfume company, not the
maison that makes the clothes.

Where Patou sits inside LVMH

LVMH is the largest luxury group in the world and owns dozens of maisons. Patou is one of
its smaller fashion houses, run from its own atelier on the Île de la Cité rather
than folded into a larger operation. That independence shows in the product: the collections
are compact, the permanent Les Essentiels range carries over season to season, and the pricing
sits well below the group’s biggest names.
We put numbers on that here.

Is Patou still trading?

Yes. The house showed its Autumn/Winter 2026 collection during Paris Fashion Week in
January 2026 and continues to sell. What changed in 2026 is the design leadership:
Guillaume Henry and the house parted ways in February 2026,
described as a mutual decision, with the house saying it was exploring a new model for its
future development. No successor has been announced, so the collections in circulation are
from Henry’s tenure.

Browse the Patou collection. Jump to designer dresses, designer jackets and
designer bags.

More Patou guides

• Le Patou Bag: The Complete Guide
• Patou Iconic Trousers: Fit, Fabric and Styling
• How to Style Patou: An Editor Guide
• Patou Jewellery: The Coin, the Bocca and Bali
• What Is Patou? The Paris Fashion House, Explained
• Patou Review: Quality, Sizing and Whether It Is Worth It

Frequently asked questions

Is Patou part of LVMH?

Yes. LVMH announced a strategic agreement with Designer Parfums in September 2018 and took a majority stake in the clothing division, relaunching the maison as Patou.

Who owned Patou before LVMH?

The family ran it from 1914. After couture stopped in 1987 the name survived through the perfumes: Procter and Gamble marketed them from 2001 to 2011, then the British group Designer Parfums took over.

Does LVMH own Joy perfume?

No. The fragrance business stayed with Designer Parfums when LVMH took the clothing division in 2018. Joy is not sold by the fashion house and is not stocked at Coveti.

Is Jean Patou the same company as Patou?

Same house, shorter name. LVMH dropped the first name at the 2018 relaunch so the clothing is branded Patou.

Sources

• Patou, “The Story of the Maison”, patou.com
• Wikipedia, “Patou”
• FashionNetwork, “Patou parts ways with artistic director Guillaume Henry”, 6 February 2026

Written and fact-checked by Gemma Deeks, Fashion Editor at Coveti. Last reviewed September 2026.