Sephora was founded in Paris in 1970 by Dominique Mandonnaud. The company began as a perfume shop called "Parfums Sephora." In 1973, Mandonnaud partnered with LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's largest luxury goods conglomerate, and Sephora became a subsidiary of LVMH. Sephora opened its first North American store in San Francisco in 1997.