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Louis Vuitton x Marc Jacobs x Takashi Murakami
Art and fashion have always operated on pretty much the same revolving principals of creativity. When it comes to creation, artists and fashion designers either strive to produce something entirely new, or take a spin on something of the past to give it a fresh new take.
When art translates into fashion, it is usually called a 'crossover', which means you take two different disciplines, and jumble it up to create something new, , something fresh, and something very marketable like a Louis Vuitton handbag.
Prior to the crossover between LV, the powerful fashion corporation, Marc Jacob, the icon of a fashion designer, and Murakami, an artist, Louis Vuitton was struggling to find a modern identity. Everybody identifies LV with its signature look of brownish color leather handbags with tiled logos, but at the time, it was a tired look in the midst of all the fresh labels competiting in the handbag business.
So LV decided to try something different by getting Marc Jacobs to put a fresh spin on their line. Marc Jacob, sensing the ever growing popularity of Japanese art, hooked up with Murakami to add some spice to the line.
Murakami was an up-and-coming Japanese artist on the international scene before his collaboration with Marc Jacobs. Basing his art on popular Japanese animations and comics, Murakami coined the art movement as 'Superflat', referring to the 2D medium it is mimicking. The Superflat movement had a pretty positive response with its exibitions around the world, and with the recognition it gained, so did its popularity, which made it a great starting point for a crossover effort.
The crossover resulted in a handbag line that became one of Louis Vuitton's top selling lines ever, meanwhile successfully turning an aged fashion iconic brand, into something every affluent, modern young lady craved for, and why not? When you're buying a Murakami LV purse, you're buying not only the perfectly made leather handbag, but you get the art to go with it too!
last modified Jul 11, 2006 at 16:23
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