Louis Vuitton is re-releasing its highly successful collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, marking a pivotal moment in the brand's history. The original collection, released in 2003 under Marc Jacobs's artistic direction, was a cultural phenomenon and propelled both Louis Vuitton and Murakami to new heights.
Clockwise from top left: Takashi Murakami’s ‘The World of Sphere,’ 2003; Takashi Murakami with Alma bag, 2003; a young Murakami with toys; Paris Hilton in 2004, carrying a bag from the original collaboration.
In 2003, before Phoebe Philo became a fashion deity, Hedi Slimane turned to womenswear, and The Row redefined haute minimalism, there was one designer whose ability to read the culture stood out like a diamond tiara at a stoop sale: Marc Jacobs. Jacobs was then six years into his role as artistic director at Louis Vuitton. If any uncertainty lingered that an American enfant terrible—Jacobs had been fired from Perry Ellis for designing his now beloved “Grunge” collection—was qualified to steer one of France’s premier leather goods brands to global dominance, it was put to rest that spring with the release of Jacobs’s partnership with the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
As Jacobs had intuited, Murakami’s irreverent tinkering was exactly what Louis Vuitton had been lacking for cool-kid approval. In Paris, the limited-edition collection sold out in hours; in New York, a 7,000-name waiting list bloomed. On eBay, resellers were commanding twice the roughly $2,000 that Vuitton stores were charging. Those unwilling to wait or pay scalpers’ prices went to Canal Street in lower Manhattan, where knockoffs abounded.
Collage credits, clockwise from top left: ©︎2003 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved; Photo by Angelica Blechschmidt, courtesy of the Estate of Angelica Blechschmidt; ©︎2003 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved; SplashNews. Center: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
LOUIS VUITTON TAKASHI MURAKAMI MARC JACOBS FASHION COLLABORATION ART AND COMMERCE
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