Under the artistic direction of Marc Jacobs, The House of Louis Vuitton officially debuted its latest collaboration with renowned Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in New York City yesterday. The collection will be launched exclusively in the Louis Vuitton Fifth Avenue Flagship and SoHo concept store and then rolled out nationwide on July 19.
The collaboration launch coincides with Kusama’s retrospective opening at the Whitney Museum of Art, the artist’s first in New York in over a decade. In a day full of events honoring Kusama at both the Whitney as well as at Louis Vuitton, the artist made a rare public U.S. appearance-her first in over thirty years. Kusama, once dubbed “the Polka Dot Princess,” is best known for her avant-garde installations and is widely considered one of the most important figures in pop-art, having influenced contemporaries such as Andy Warhol.
The Louis Vuitton collaboration with Kusama comes after the fashion label’s successful partnerships with other artists such as Richard Prince and Takashi Murakami. In a statement issued to the press, Louis Vuitton announced that they would “like to pay tribute to the exceptional artist for whom Marc Jacobs, Artistic Director of the House, has great admiration. A collection issued from the collaboration between Yayoi Kusama and Marc Jacobs will interpret the most emblematic artworks of Kusama.”
The artist’s celebrated polka dot pattern in a range of psychedelic colors will cover a collection of Louis Vuitton shoes, handbags, shirts, skirts, and jewelry, among other accessories and ready-to-wear items. The pattern is inspired by Kusama’s obsession with seriality and infinity- no beginning, no middle, and no end. The use of polka dots is prominent in Kusama’s work: she has covered rooms, spaces and even people with the never ending dots.
In addition to the products, three illustrative themes will be explored in this collaboration through store windows: “Beginning of the Universe,” a series of biomorphic shaped sculptures, “Eternal Blooming Flowers in my Mind,” floral sculptures, and “Self-Obliteration,” red polka dots on a white background with Kusama figures interspersed throughout. Similar windows will be revealed in all Louis Vuitton stores worldwide in the next few weeks. For more information visit Yayoi-Kusama.jp.