By Lucy Hasani, galerieperrie.com

Collaborations between any industry draw excitement and attention, yet those between fashion and art have become the most coveted; bringing together two highly creative industries in a manner that exceeds innovation. 

The recent collaboration between luxury maison, Louis Vuitton, and contemporary Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama, initially made its debut in Tokyo with a succession of immersive pop-ups shortly following in the vibrant cities of London and New York. Kusama’s emblematic polka dot patterns, which represent infinity, unleashed themselves across cityscapes and department stores, capturing the expressive zeitgeist of the collection itself.

Featuring ready-to-wear, shoes, bags and accessories each item is graced with “wet” polka dots of paint as if just painted by Kusama herself, who appears to be doing so in the window of the Louis Vuitton store on Fifth Avenue in New York. Although this is not the artist herself, it definitely captured the attention of consumers who following on made their way into the infinity rooms of polka dots and postmodern pochettes.

This partnership however goes far beyond an editorial collaboration or a branded space at an art fair but steps into the discourse of changing consumer demands that art has introduced to the luxury space. Focus has shifted from the physicality of produced goods to the connections that these goods have the capacity to create, whether it be through experience or meaningful partnership. By stepping into a Louis Vuitton store, the consumers hope to immerse themselves in values at the forefront of the brand such as timelessness, authenticity and heritage, hoping that the item they purchase will be a memento of such an experience. This collaboration perfectly exemplifies that, employing the personal aspects of art to create these deeper connections and stand out in a saturated market. This shift in focus from product to perspective is something that characterizes the art industry and has inevitably led to the idealization of many distinct artworks, so it’s interesting to see how these two fields can come together to align their visions in a contemporary landscape.

From the immersive campaigns through to the inception of the idea itself, culturally significant periods of fashion and art coming together, this collaboration brings deeper meanings to the idea of partnership. Whether you gravitate more toward fashion or art, this artistic collaboration has fostered infinite different meanings to its observers and in the words of Kusama herself, “It speaks to everyone — it can speak to a child; it can speak to an intellectual. It’s not too hard to understand, although it’s very complex.”

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