Louis Vuitton’s curiosities go beyond fashion. From a new collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami in Kyoto to raising a restaurant by chef Gaggan Anand in Bangkok, see the initiatives that keep them on the pulse of culture.
Louis Vuitton’s ties to the world of art can be traced back to its early beginnings. Gaston-Louis Vuitton was a known avid collector of trinkets that bridged art and functional design. But it might be the mark of their most recent artistic directors that strengthened that bond.
Marc Jacobs’s spring 2001 collection, the graffiti collection in collaboration between himself and artist Stephen Sprouse, is still seared in collective fashion memory, and the fashion-art reimaginings of artists Yayoi Kusama and Takashi Murakami for Vuitton are often revisited with Nicolas Ghesquière at the helm. Under Ghesquière, the Maison continues to build upon its ever-growing roster of artists, whether it’s through their Capucines canvases or the 13-meter-tall “Flower Parent and Child” sculpture by Takashi Murakami positioned on top of an aughts-emblematic Monogram Multicolor trunk.
As artistic director, Ghesquière has said that his vision is concerned with imbuing the brand’s design language with a certain curiosity, not just for fashion and art but for things like travel and food. Below, find Louis Vuitton’s latest projects and initiatives that bridge fashion and culture.
Takashi Murakami’s “Flower Parent and Child”
In Kyoto, a giant golden sculpture of a flower brightly beams between petals. In artist Takashi Murakami’s “Flower Parent and Child,” his emblematic flower character holds the hand of its mini version. First revealed in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills in 2020, it now overlooks the Japanese garden of the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, standing on top of a new Monogram Multicolor trunk by Louis Vuitton, based on Murakami’s collaborations with the Maison in 2003.
Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz, honored in Louis Vuitton
Acclaimed portraitist Annie Leibovitz will be admitted to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris on March 20, with her academician’s sword to be presented by Anna Wintour during the ceremony. Louis Vuitton has the honor of dressing her for the occasion, marking their years of collaboration. Nicolas Ghesquière reimagines the habit vert for Leibovitz with the stylings of his Louis XVI collection for spring 2018; olive leaves decorate the edges of a frock coat, from the collar down the front and at the cuffs, with all the embroidery done entirely by hand.
LV The Place Bangkok
At the Gaysorn Amarin in Bangkok, Thailand, the Maison unveils a destination concept spanning retail and exhibition spaces, a café, and a restaurant by Indian chef Gaggan Annand.
On the ground floor, find immersive, thematic rooms that puts Ghesquière’s references to history and his oeuvre at Vuitton in context, with ideas rooted in house codes of travel, functionality, and play. And at Gaggan at Louis Vuitton, find Chef Anand’s curated menu for the Maison, based on a palate of sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and surprise.
Louis Vuitton x People For Wildlife
On the sustainability front, Louis Vuitton cements a 5-year global partnership with People For Wildlife, releasing the initiatives that outline an aim to restore biodiversity across a 400,000-hectare area on the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, in Australia. After the first year of five, their joint efforts have allowed them to achieve the discovery of two new species (the first a mushroom species, and the second an exciting discovery of a snake species), valuable insight into the 4,300 flora and fauna that live in the reserve, and the engagement of twelve scientific experts geared toward advancing research in preserving biodiverse landscapes.
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