Didn’t get your hands on the highly covetable Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama collection when it launched in January? A heads up: A second drop for the tie-up between the fashion house and “the priestess of a total, hypnotic and colourful art” is coming on March 31.
Titled ‘Creating Infinity’, the second leg of the collaboration sees Louis Vuitton dig deeper into Kusama’s whimsical oeuvre. If the first outing earlier this year focused on four themes – Infinity Dots, Painted Dots, Metal Dots and Flowers – that are synonymous with her, this latest instalment will further introduce three more elements central to the works of the eccentric 94-year-old artist.
The Pumpkin Bag reminds us of the famous squash sculpture that Yayoi Kusama has placed at Naoshima Island.
For starters, Pumpkins – regarded by Kusama as a talisman in her art – take centre stage. One winsome reimagination is the yellow Pumpkin Bag (above) which features a minaudiere that has been moulded into a three-dimensional squash that resembles a miniature version of the famous pumpkin sculpture by Kusama on Naoshima Island. But rather than the black polka dots that decorate the latter, this bag is stamped with Louis Vuitton’s monogram instead. Other items that sport this vegetal motif are the OnTheGo tote and the NeoNoe bucket bag.
Flowers, a motif based on a painting that Kusama created in 2004, also finds its way into this second drop. The florals from that art work are translated into embroideries, appliques, vivid prints as well as leather marquetry pieces that are inlaid onto well-loved bag models such as the Capucuines top-handle bag and Speedy Boston bag.
Yayoi Kusama holds a Capucines bag embroidered with motifs found in her My Eternal Soul series of painting that she began in 2009.
Then there is the Faces series. This line features doodle-like characters such as fish and maned creatures (above) that are derived from Kusama’s My Eternal Soul painting series she worked on from 2009. Rendered as embroidery and prints, some of the motifs from the paintings have been reimagined in a brilliant shade of Delphinium Blue – a new signature colour created for Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton also resurrected the Infinity Net paintings that propelled Kusama to fame in the New York art scene in 1959 for this second drop. The paintings – an abstract and hypnotic composition of dots – are widely regarded as one of her most sought-after works today. The collection sees the Infnity Net drawings appearing as a print on the Taurillon leather that is used to craft the Capucines bag.
Lensed by acclaimed fashion photographer Steven Meisel, the campaign for the second drop of the Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama collaboration stars brand ambassadors like actress/model Hoyeon Jung (top), French actress Lea Seydoux (middle), Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu (bottom) and Justin Timberlake.
Ahead, we round up some of the eye-catching buys from this highly anticipated launch.
