DESIGNER 101

Louis Vuitton 101:

The Yayoi Kusama Collaboration

By Ann Binlot, Sept. 08, 2022

Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton celebrate

10 years.

Artist Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton initially came together in 2012. The Japanese artist and French luxury label reunite on the original collection’s 10th anniversary for a second collaboration for Cruise 2023.

The History of Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama

There’s no doubt that Yayoi Kusama is one of the most famous artists in the world. Her fiery red bob, intense gaze, and polka-dotted ensembles are unmistakable. Her Infinity Rooms are viral sensations, attracting hours-long queues of people who wanted to see them for the gram.

Marc Jacobs, who was artistic director of Louis Vuitton from 1997 to 2014, first visited Kusama’s studio in Japan in 2006 after admiring her work for a long time. It would be six more years until the first Yayoi Kusama x Louis Vuitton collaboration came to fruition to coincide with her 2012 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. “The obsessive character and the innocence of her artwork touch me,” Jacobs said in a press release. “She succeeds in sharing her vision of the world with us.” The fashion designer listed “obsession and seriality” as the starting point for the collaboration, presumably referring to the repetitive nature of the artist’s polka dots which are the signature motif in her work. Louis Vuitton aptly named it the Dots Infinity collection. The result was a collection of ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and handbags that were covered in Kusama polka dots.

Although Jacobs departed Louis Vuitton in 2014 (Nicolas Ghesquière), the label marked the Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton collaboration’s 10-year anniversary with a new line of handbags that made their debut in San Diego at Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2023 show in June 2022.  Multicolored polka dots and 3D silver dots covered signature Louis Vuitton handbag styles like the Soft Trunk and the Hard Trunk.

Celebrities in Yayoi Kusama x Louis Vuitton

Kim Kardashian, Dianna Agron, and Pixie Geldof are among the celebrities who have  been photographed in Yayoi Kusama x Louis Vuitton.

Sizing

Yayoi Kusama x Louis Vuitton Range

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