Ten years after they made history together, Louis Vuitton has once again joined hands with acclaimed Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama for a second collaboration set to be released in January 2023.
As part of the collaboration, the French high-end luxury fashion house took over parts of Tokyo with a mix of augmented reality (AR) experiences and physical installations featuring the 93-year-old Kusama and her works.
More about Louis Vuitton x Kusama collaboration 2023
What to expect from the collaboration
The exact items in the Louis Vuitton x Kusama collaboration for 2023 are not known, but the fashion house revealed signature handbags and accessories featuring the Japanese icon’s distinctive hand-painted polka dots at LV’s Cruise 2023 in May 2022 held under the creative direction of Nicolas Ghesquière.
The handbags featured metallic spheres balls inspired by Kusama’s ‘Narcissus Garden’ installation as well as colourful, hand-painted polka dots that the Japanese artist is particularly known for.
“These exclusive bags feature a reinterpretation of the artist’s obsessive dots across Louis Vuitton signature shapes as well as on new models,” the brand, which is also transforming its Paris headquarters into a luxury hotel, said in May 2022.
Their first collaboration, which came when Marc Jacobs was the creative director of the fashion brand, featured the polka dots on LV bags such as Speedy, Keepall and Neverfull among others. The bags from the 2012 collaboration continue to be highly sought-after by collectors.
Louis Vuitton x Kusama installations and where to see them
As the Louis Vuitton x Kusama collaboration continues building up the excitement, fans of the brand, Ghesquière, and the Japanese design legend can get a feel of their upcoming partnership through various installations across Tokyo that will be accessible through December 2022.
Installations have been placed at Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Station, Zojoji Temple, Shiba Park and Shinjuku district.
The Tokyo Tower has been transformed into a holiday tree decorated with lights and the LV logo outside the tower.
Installations at Tokyo Station include a huge skating rink whose walls are covered in Kusama’s polka dots as well as a box with artworks resembling a fish and the LV logo, among others. There is also an LV Fish Café installation on Gyoko-dori near Tokyo Station.
An LV logo installation has been placed at the foot of Zojoji Temple. Onlookers at Shinjuku will see a 3D billboard taking them inside an LV trunk featuring the polka dots and an avatar of the Japanese contemporary artist.
Chrome sphere sculptures and a pumpkin-shaped hot air balloon — a distinctive feature of Kusama’s works — can be seen at Shiba Park.
Reports suggest that the immersive installations allow viewers to unlock animations via AR filters as well as virtually try items such as Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama sunglasses.
A map of the locations where the installations have been set up is available on LV’s Japanese site.
(Main and Featured images: Louis Vuitton/@louisvuitton/Instagram)
