From 1er On December 3, visitors to the Art Basel Miami fair came face to face with two life-size wax sculptures, in the style of the Grévin Museum, representing the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. In one, she wore a red dress studded with white polka dots. On the other, a white dress covered in multicolored polka dots. Each was wearing the famous red wig inseparable from the image of the 93-year-old plastic artist. Suffering from mental disorders, the artist has lived since 1977 in a five-star Japanese psychiatric institute, from where she designs with obsession the works invaded by the spherical motifs that made her famous.
The two statues welcomed visitors to the stand of the French luxury house Louis Vuitton, who rubbed shoulders with those of art galleries from all over the world. Owned by the LVMH group, the brand was already present at the first edition of the Paris + fair at the ephemeral Grand Palais, last October, where it exhibited – without selling them – pieces from its archives. A first. But this booth in Florida was something new. It unveiled a large-scale collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kusama, who affixed his colorful dots to the brand’s men’s and women’s worlds: silk twill pajamas, leather skirts, cashmere sweaters, wool coats, glasses, bucket hats, sneakers, moccasins… The set will be available in January 2023. We have rarely seen a space of such amplitude given to an artist within a luxury house.
The house of Louis Vuitton is familiar with Yayoi Kusama, with whom it had already collaborated in 2012. In addition, the world number one in luxury is a pioneer of what has become over the years a usual phenomenon in the sector: the meeting between luxury brands and artists. LV Dream, the new place opened by Louis Vuitton in the heart of Paris, is a perfect illustration of this. Defined as “cultural and culinary”, this space houses a free exhibition (on reservation), a souvenir shop, a café and a chocolate factory. All installed at the foot of the brand’s head office, rue du Pont-Neuf, in the 1er arrondissement of Paris, opposite the Samaritaine, also in the bosom of LVMH.
A firmly rooted tradition
To inaugurate LV Dream, the house presents for a year an exhibition retracing part of its history. In the middle of surprisingly modern old bags, trunks that turn into a bed or a desk, we find the models imagined in 1996 by the most cutting-edge designers, to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the famous monogrammed canvas: Azzedine Alaïa, Vivienne Westwood, Karl Lagerfeld, Rei Kawakubo, from Comme des Garçons, and Helmut Lang, whose clever vinyl box set stands out.
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