Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama Collaboration Arrives
Photos: Getty Images | Patrick McMullan
Yayoi Kusama and Marc Jacobs.
One doesn't need a crystal ball to make this prediction: Polka-dots are going to be huge this summer.
That's all down to the July 10 launch of Louis Vuitton's collaboration with reclusive Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who is lending her signature dot motif to everything from trench coats to wristwatches, Women's Wear Daily reports.
An early peek at the collection—timed to make its début two days before Kusama's retrospective at the Whitney Museum in New York launches—reveals playful heels adorned with yellow and black polka-dot patent leather bows, while blouses, silk pajamas, handbags, and jewelry will also get the spotty treatment.
Come October, the dots will make way for a new batch of monogrammed leather wares emblazoned with the artist's squiggly "nerves" motif.
"It’s really charming," Louis Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs, who coincidentally has a new Dot fragrance coming out, tells WWD of the collaboration. "It has the essence of the spirit of her work.”
Having featured artistic prints from the likes of Richard Prince, Takashi Murakami, and Stephen Sprouse in the past, Jacobs was inspired to team up with the 83-year-old painter after visiting her Tokyo studio in 2006. Kusama, who lives in a home for the mentally ill, presented the designer with a Louis Vuitton Ellipse bag which she'd covered in her signature dots, thus sparking the idea for the collaboration.
In addition to the collection, which will be produced in limited quantities, the label is releasing a free Kusama app, which will allow users to upload photos enhanced with her dot motif.
Who knew being a culture vulture could be this fun?
