Fresh from unveiling its frenzy-inducing collaboration with skate brand Supreme at the men’s AW17 show in Paris, Louis Vuitton has revealed its next limited-edition partnership. Contemporary artist Jeff Koons – known for his famous balloon animals, NSFW works featuring adult actress ex-wife Ilona Staller, and for rendering Michael Jackson and his pet monkey in white and gold porcelain – is creating a series of bags for the house.
The Koons-created line is a reimagining of his well-known ‘Gazing Ball’ series, a collection of art history replicas including famous paintings and sculptures which feature a blue mirrored ball intended to be looked into (you might remember the time Koons recreated Lady Gaga as a sculpture with such a ball for her album Artpop). For the capsule, dubbed ‘Masters’, Van Gogh’s “Wheat Fields and Cypresses”, Rubens’ “Tiger Hunt”, and Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” are among the works which appear on bags. Like a super high-end version of something you might find peddled outside the Louvre, they brilliantly capture Koons’ mastery of kitsch and artistic appropriation – he’s even been allowed to design a take on the signature LV monogram with his own initials.
No stranger to collaborations, Louis Vuitton is known for enlisting artists to work on creative projects, with names like Cindy Sherman, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince having previously put their name to products. Stephen Sprouse’s graffiti inspired bags and Yayoi Kusama’s dotty offerings are some of the best-known projects for the house, while in 2014 they opened the Fondation Louis Vuitton museum in Paris.
The ‘Masters’ collection will be available from April 28th, and marks the first stage of a long-running collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Jeff Koons so keep an eye out for future announcements. Learn more at www.louisvuitton.com
