Purse lovers, rejoice! The Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama collaboration has returned! Did you miss out on the original collaboration from 2012? It was a hugely successful venture that united a major living artist working directly with a global fashion house, bringing fine art awareness to a wider audience. Fortunately, you’ve got another chance now!
Ten years later the two have reconnected for a new collection which is being met with rave reviews throughout the fashion world. According to the Louis Vuitton website, the Kusama’s “symbolic objects, hypnotic motifs, and imaginings of infinity” will take over LV’s own emblems, creating “magical objects that transcend time and space”.
Image: Hypebeast
Yayoi Kusama, a 93 year old Japanese artist, is known for her whimsical polka dot pieces and infinity mirror installations. According to the Wall Street Journal, she holds the record for the most expensive painting by a living female artist sold at auction ($7.1 million in 2014 for her work entitled White No. 28). Kusama also is the highest grossing female artist at auction (a total of $899 million). Not surprisingly, she is considered one of the most influential living female artists today.
A childhood hallucination deeply affected Kusama, leading her to envision the world with kaleidoscopic polka dots which are interpreted in her artwork. For Kusama, the dots have a more celestial interpretation as well, representing earth among all the stars.
Louis Vuitton previewed the Yayoi Kusama collaboration on the 2023 LV Cruise runway this past May at the Salk Institute in San Diego. Luckily, we don’t have to wait much longer for its release. The full collection, which includes leather goods, shoes, ready-to-wear clothes, and, of course, purses will debut in January 2023.
Kusama fans will immediately recognize the reflective silver balls similar to the immersive mirror reflection installations popular in her work. Additionally, it includes one of her most recognizable recurring subjects, yellow pumpkins. One highlight of the collection is seeing Kusama’s signature polka dots covering some of Louis Vuitton’s most iconic silhouettes, including the Speedy and Alma bags.
Image: Vogue.com
Image: Vogue.com
To celebrate the launch of the collection, Louis Vuitton is hosting special installations throughout Tokyo. Locations include Tokyo Tower, Zojoji Temple, and Tokyo station. Featured in exhibits are an animated billboard and various interactive displays. For example, the Shinjuku billboard will take the public inside a Louis Vuitton trunk adorned with Kusama’s signature polka dots. Another installation elsewhere in Tokyo will feature chrome sphere sculptures and a pumpkin shaped hot air balloon.
Image: Louis Vuitton
Image: @yohirin411
Also this week, during Art Basel in Miami, there will be a special presentation to launch the collection. Art lovers and party goers alike will delight in this unique fashion display. From Thursday to Saturday Louis Vuitton will host a booth dedicated to its artistic collaborations, similar to what they presented at the Paris+ by Art Basel show this past October. According to Michael Burke, chairman and chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, the company is excited to be a part of the “giddy” discourse and engagement with the art world, especially coming out of the global pandemic.
As for the actual purses themselves, both classic and contemporary styles get the Kusama treatment. Here is a lineup of handbags we are just dotty about.
Image: @foxylv
Image: @foxylv
Image: @foxylv
For those of you familiar with the 2012 Kusama LV collection, how does this compare? Will you be adding a bag or two to your closet? Or perhaps, you prefer your art to be, well, just art. Of course, you could put the LV Kusama bag on display, rather than using it. We suspect Yayoi might love that idea.
Love, PurseBop
XO
Updated: December 20th, 2022
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