Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama waves in front of the windows of Vuitton's flagship store for the unveiling of a new collaborative collection by Vuitton and creative designer Marc Jacobs in New York, Tuesday, July 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
July 10, 2012 - 12:40 PM
NEW YORK, N.Y. - French fashion house Louis Vuitton is again putting a bit of Japanese culture on the arms of its customers.
The brand, best known for leather goods, was to formally unveil Tuesday a new collection created in collaboration between Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs. The theme is bold, graphic polka dots — a signature of the artist — offered in a frenzied series of sizes and colours.
Jacobs and Kusama started with inspiration of "obsession and seriality," according to a company statement.
The dots cover shoes, handbags, shirts, skirts and sunglasses, among other items.
Jacobs met Kusama in 2006. He is an avid art collector and was a fan of Kusama's sculptures and paintings. "The obsessive character and the innocence of her artwork touch me," Jacobs said.
In honour of the new products, Louis Vuitton created a splashy display for the brand's flagship Manhattan store on Fifth Avenue that pays homage to three Kusama motifs: "Beginning of the Universe," ''Eternal Blooming Flowers in My Mind" and "Self-Obliteration." The building facade is wrapped in a pattern of dots.
The timing of the product launch and building installation coincides with the Whitney Museum of American Art's new exhibition of Kusama's work.
A decade ago, Jacobs and Louis Vuitton had great success collaborating with Japanese designer Takashi Murakami on a series of pop-art products that became instant must-haves among the fashion crowd and spawned a seemingly infinite number of mass-market items covered in similar-style rainbow-colored monograms and logos.
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Online:
http://www.louisvuittonkusama.com/
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News from © The Associated Press, 2012