Ten years later, the beat goes on for Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kusama.
Artist Yayoi Kusama
By now you must have seen the incredible takeover with avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama and luxury maison Louis Vuitton. From a giant replica blowup hovering over the Champs-Élysées store in Paris to the animated lifelike robot in the 57th Street windows in New York City, the hand of the singular artist can be felt and seen around the world.
This isn’t the first time Kusama and Vuitton have crossed paths. In 2012, Kusama lent her hand to the painting of the iconic LV trunk with her signature polka dots—a modest but no less exciting relationship with the house. Fast-forward 10 years and the conversation has exploded into a complete takeover of women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, accessories, bags, shoes, perfume, luggage and trunks. For Kusama, the dots represent infinity, and if the collections (broken into two “drops”) are any indication, these whimsical and exuberant products will indeed stand the test of time.
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At age 10, Kusama began painting early versions of her obsession that would bring her to worldwide fame. In the late ’70s, she returned to Japan after making a name for herself in the art world, seemingly taking a hiatus and always keeping an allure of mystery. Today, at 94, she has emerged as perhaps the preeminent global artist of the 21st century and without a doubt the most successful living female artist. Th e idea of Louis Vuitton’s artist collaborations has also stood the test of time (almost a century ago) when founder Gaston-Louis Vuitton began commissioning artists to create store windows and works inside. It’s this very idea of time and a deep appreciation for the craft that works so nicely in the skilled hands of both the artist and the maker. Perhaps Kusama knew this all along—even at a young age—that art is indeed timeless.
Photography by: PORTRAIT BY YUSUKE MIYAZAKI; PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRAND
