Louis Vuitton × Yayoi Kusama silver Pumpkin bag

Art on the Monogram: Louis Vuitton's Artist Collaborations, 2001 to 2023

The most recognisable pattern in luxury has been written over, painted over and reimagined by some of the best-known artists of the last quarter-century. Chapter three of the Louis Vuitton documentary sets those collaborations in order, from Stephen Sprouse's marker in 2001 to Yayoi Kusama's second collection in 2023, with the Japanese names at the centre of the story and a plain note on one name that is missing.

Stephen Sprouse, 2001

Stephen Sprouse and Marc Jacobs wrote the monogram over in fluorescent graffiti for spring/summer 2001, and the collection is still the one against which others are measured. Sprouse died in 2004, and the Roses tribute followed in 2009. Everything about it, from model numbers to colours, is in the Sprouse guide.

Takashi Murakami, 2002 onwards

At Marc Jacobs's invitation, Takashi Murakami began a collaboration in 2002 that re-envisioned the monogram in a series of handbags. Its Monogram Multicolore range reached the runway for spring/summer 2003. The bags were a huge commercial success and made Murakami a celebrity in Japan, and the partnership is reported to have lasted thirteen years from 2003. In 2008 came Monogramouflage, and between 2007 and 2009 his retrospective ©Murakami travelled from MOCA in Los Angeles to the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, with a fully functioning Louis Vuitton boutique among its exhibits. Our own records carry Louis Vuitton × Takashi Murakami pieces dated 2025, evidence that the partnership has been revisited.

Richard Prince, 2008

On 8 January 2008 a party at the Guggenheim Museum previewed Louis Vuitton's spring/summer 2008 accessories, between twenty and twenty-five new handbags that Marc Jacobs had designed in collaboration with Richard Prince. They had been shown on the runway in Paris, and the evening served as a bookend to the museum's exhibition Richard Prince: Spiritual America. Our records carry a Pulp Weekender GM in jaune from this collaboration: Richard Prince Pulp Weekender GM M95735.

Yayoi Kusama, 2012 and 2023

Jacobs visited Yayoi Kusama's studio in Japan in 2006, and the two worked on a line of leather goods, ready-to-wear, accessories, shoes, watches and jewellery that was developed in 2011 and released in 2012. The launch was a SoHo pop-up decorated with Kusama's tentacle-like protrusions and polka dots, and six more pop-up shops opened around the world. The collection was titled Infinitely Kusama in July 2012. Kusama said that Jacobs's sincere attitude toward art was the same as her own. In 2023 the house created a second set of products with her.

Celebrating Monogram, 2014

In June 2014 the house announced Celebrating Monogram, a project in which six creators were invited to reimagine the Monogram, which Georges Vuitton had created in 1896. They were Christian Louboutin, Cindy Sherman, Frank Gehry, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Newson and Rei Kawakubo. Gehry, the architect of the Fondation Louis Vuitton building, made a twisted box bag; Lagerfeld made a punching bag; Sherman made a messenger bag; and Kawakubo, the founder of Comme des Garçons, was given carte blanche. The limited-edition bags were to reach select stores worldwide in mid-October 2014. The Tokyo exhibition of 2021 showed Monogram bags reimagined by Lagerfeld, Sherman, Kawakubo and Gehry, and named Arata Isozaki, Richard Prince and Zaha Hadid among its other collaborators.

Supreme and Jeff Koons, 2017

Two further collaborations date from 2017: the Supreme pop-up and two collections with Jeff Koons. The Koons Masters pieces set paintings on bags and backpacks; our records name the Mona Lisa, a Turner and Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses among them. The Supreme pieces in our records are in red Epi leather with a white logo.

Kansai Yamamoto, 2017

For the Cruise 2018 show at the Miho Museum, shown in May 2017, Kansai Yamamoto attended and designed icons, symbols and characters for some garments and accessories. Some bags were inspired by Kabuki masks, and Kristopher Haigh made hats for the collection. The full account is in the Kansai Yamamoto guide, and his pieces are in the Kansai Yamamoto collection.

NIGO and Virgil Abloh, 2020

Pre-Fall 2020 brought LV², a menswear capsule by Virgil Abloh and NIGO, the founder of Human Made. Its first drop was scheduled for 26 June 2020 in all Louis Vuitton stores and online. The collection was inspired by British Mods and covered tailored suits, outerwear, jeans, accessories and leather goods, with two graphic elements: the plaid LV Damier Check and a dripping effect, in which the monogram appears to drip onto plaid sections of bags and backpacks. The drip effect had first been introduced by NIGO in his Icecream collections. The closest pieces to streetwear were the denim suits and a black nylon puffer jacket. A flight jacket in our archive carries an LV MADE graphic on the back. See the NIGO guide and the NIGO collection.

What the record does not show

Readers sometimes list Hajime Sorayama among the artists who have worked with Louis Vuitton. We have found no such collaboration. His documented partnership is with Dior Men, for the Pre-Fall 2019 collection shown in Tokyo, and it began when Kim Jones, who had left Louis Vuitton for Dior in 2018, visited his studio. Sorayama devised the laser show and the runway concept, painted the Japanese foliage that appears as prints, and drew futuristic versions of the Dior logotype for accessories. We have chosen to say this plainly rather than to place his name in a list where it does not belong. The artist is covered in the Sorayama guide.

Collecting the collaborations

Collaboration pieces carry a premium, so authenticity deserves proof before purchase. Confirm the model number and date code against the date-code guide, compare the edition size with the stamped details, and read the wear against the Japanese condition ranks.

Why Japan

Five of the collaborators in this chapter are Japanese, and a culture of careful keeping is why limited editions can arrive from Tokyo with their boxes, dust bags and certificates. The argument is made in full in Why Japan Is the World's Finest Market for Pre-owned Luxury.

In the archive now

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After a particular collaboration or model number? Our Hunting Salon™ searches across Japan's private collector circles on your behalf.

Index terms: louis vuitton collaborations · louis vuitton artist collaborations timeline · louis vuitton richard prince 2008 · louis vuitton kusama 2012 · louis vuitton jeff koons masters · louis vuitton supreme 2017 · louis vuitton celebrating monogram 2014 · louis vuitton nigo lv2 · lv² damier check drip · louis vuitton sorayama

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