Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami: A Collaboration of Pop Art and Fashion

The collaboration generated over $300 million within the first year of its introduction and includes some of the brand’s most popular products. 

The now iconic bags have also been featured in Murakami’s museum retrospectives over the years, which at one point even premiered a Louis Vuitton pop-up at The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. 

Though the collaboration officially ended in 2010, it wasn’t until after Jacobs left his post as Creative Director in 2014 that Murakami’s take on Louis Vuitton was phased out of stores. 

Although it’s unknown how long this anniversary reintroduction has been in the works, Murakami’s request to use a Vuitton Monogram Multicolor Trunk alongside his sculpture, “Flower Parent and Child,” was readily allowed last year by Pietro Beccari, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Louis Vuitton.

The new collection is set to roll out next week, having already been released in China and Japan. All Louis Vuitton stores should have the collection by January 3rd, and pop-up locations in New York City, London, Milan, Tokyo, Seoul, and Singapore will open in early January. 

The vibrant pop-ups are loosely inspired by Tokyo’s sleep-pod hotels and will stay open for three weeks. The public can also expect special vending machines where one can win stickers, Tamagotchi, or trading cards after purchasing an item from it. 

In a comment to WWD, Beccari makes it clear that the brand is attempting to adjust their target market after several years of stalling growth and a 4.4 percent drop in revenues during the last quarter of the fiscal year. “After a crisis, people are often eager to consume and have fun again. Our aim is to navigate this challenging period, maintaining the momentum needed to uphold our brand’s values and desirability in the meantime,” Beccari said. 

“Art is a medium that carries on after the artist dies, and fashion also grows once the story, the narrative, is woven throughout history, so there’s a time factor to this. So I thought, if I created the entryway towards this monogram world for the children, a really young audience, that would be nice.” 

He also stated that, “future re-editions are always a possibility.” Last year, Louis Vuitton also saw the revival of its collaboration with Yayoi Kusama from 2012.