Louis Vuitton is once again bridging the world of fashion and art, with an inspired collection inspired by an artist’s iconic aesthetic style — enter, this collection with contemporary Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama.
Since forging a friendship in 2012, which resulted in a multi-faceted collaboration across exhibitions, products and window installations, the French maison reunites with Yayoi Kusama to present a collaborative project that comprises ready-to-wear, bags, shoes, accessories, luggage, trunks, and fragrances. These will launch in two distinct thematic directions, in January and March 2023.
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If you’re a fan of the artist on the hunt for a CNY outfit that will definitely stand out, you’re in luck. Drop 1 is set to launch locally on 6 Jan 2023, a few days after its 1 Jan launch in China and Japan. It will feature the Painted Dots, Metal Dots, Infinity Dots, and Psychedelic Flower collections that had previously been previewed in San Diego early this year, during the Louis Vuitton Cruise 2023 show. Here’s a closer look at what you can expect to find from each collection.
PAINTED DOTS
One of Yayoi Kusama’s most iconic art motifs includes her painted dots, which are now reflected in this collection that sees her signature brush-stroked dots alongside Louis Vuitton’s iconic Monogram. The motif of Painted Dots is a direct translation of her hand through a complex serigraphy technique, and feature embossed printing on leather or iconic coated canvas.
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The Painted Dots collection includes hard-sided luggage, ankle boots, sneakers, and derby shoes, a dotted Monogram down jacket and cargo pants from the men’s technical nylon ready-to-wear, and a black leather skirt with multi-coloured brush stroke buttons from the women’s series. Keep an eye out for the colourful and greyscale painted dots on the white Capucines and black Dauphine bags, as well as on a variety of accessories and the bottles of LV fragrances.
METAL DOTS
As a representation of a glint of the infinite, and inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s famed mirrored orbs, a key motif from her Narcissus Garden exhibition that was shown (unofficially) at the 33rd Venice Biennale in 1966, the Metal Dots collection features silver orbs of varying sizes, placed with exact precision by hand onto women’s black and silver leather goods. Items include Cannes and Capucines bags, Academy loafers, Squad hi-tops and leather garments such as a silver biker jacket and a silver leather mini dress.
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INFINITY DOTS
Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Dots are perhaps her most recognisable motif, seen here as the focal design across all categories for both women and men; and across both collection drops as well. Inspired by the desire to predict and measure the infinity of the unbounded universe, Yayoi’s Infinity Dot has become the most obsessional of her motifs, signifying a state of ‘self-obliteration’ for the artist.
Presented in her signature palettes of black & white, red & white, yellow & black, and black & red, the infinity dots can be found on leather goods, shoes and other iconic silhouettes. You’ll find infinity dots morphed with the Monogram on leather pieces such as the embossed Empreinte Neverfull, Twist or Taurillon Capucines for women, and the Classic Keepall and Soft Trunk for men.
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The infinity dots have also been woven into jacquards and 3D knits, printed onto silks and appearing as embroideries on everyday wear such as the women’s skirt suit with a printed gabardine spin and the men’s tech fleece blouson and zipped overshirt. Shoes have also been reimagined with the enamelled infinity-dotted metal hardware on the Academy loafers and its own palette of dots for the men’s LV Trainer on a grounding of white grain calf leather.
PSYCHEDELIC FLOWER
Another type of art form that Yayoi Kusama is obsessed with is her florals, whose fleeting beauty is contrasted with the sense of the eternal and infinite, but made permanent through her work. Taking inspiration from her 1993 psychedelic-ish Flower painting, the collection features an exotic flower that unfurls across accessories and ready-to-wear for men and women, including a formal iteration of a men’s wool tailored suiting with a distinct floral jacquard.
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Other eye-catching pieces you should keep a lookout for are the men’s casual varsity blouson that features an embroidery of the flower, the men’s leather carrying goods that use debased printing on white leather to highlight the flower’s beauty and intricacy, as well as the women’s Capucines with a blown-up floral motif that encompasses the bags entirely.
The first drop of the Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama collection is slated to launch on 6 Jan 2023 in Singapore. Pricing for items in the collection will be announced closer to the launch date. For more information, click HERE.
