Trypophobes, look away: Yayoi Kusama is working with Louis Vuitton

Life & Style

Published: 10 Jan. 2023, 16:26 Updated: 10 Jan. 2023, 17:12

Trypophobes, look away: Yayoi Kusama is working with Louis Vuitton

The interior view of Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, which is currently presenting its latest collection made in collaboration with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. [LOUIS VUITTON]

One of the most celebrated artists on the planet, renowned for her signature polka-dotted works of art, is collaborating with Louis Vuitton.

Louis Vuitton has incorporated 93-year-old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s symbolic motifs and imagination into a playful assortment of clothes, shoes, accessories and perfume. The collection, available in both men's and womenswear, is currently on view at the Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul in Gangnam District, southern Seoul.

Last Friday, a plethora of star-studded guests — actor Bae Doo-na, singer Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation and football athlete Cho Gue-sung, among others — visited the atelier sporting the dotty outfits.

The collaboration first launched in China and Japan earlier this month and subsequently spread throughout the rest of the world. A second collection is expected to drop in Louis Vuitton stores on March 31.

The first floor of the atelier is covered with countless polka dots on a yellow background, with posing mannequins donning the new garments.

The dots on the clothes and accessories are not merely prints; in fact, they each have different oil paint-like textures that feel as if they were each individually brushed on by Kusama. For those who think the pieces that are completely plastered with polka dots are a bit excessive, others have more subtle patterns including handbags and shoes with polka dots only on the Louis Vuitton logo.

Kusama has long been enchanted with the motif of polka dots; she began painting them since she was 10 years old. For almost her entire life and counting, she has continuously conveyed them in her works, illustrating them in large numbers to the point that they have been associated with themes of infiniteness and eternity.

Kusama and Louis Vuitton first worked together in 2012, back when she hand-painted a Louis Vuitton trunk with her characteristic polka dots. The pair’s second collaboration was recently displayed at the Incheon International Airport, at which the brand installed her artworks.

Apart from Kusama, Louis Vuitton has a long history of working with outside artists, Koreans included, and the luxury brand says that its collaborations go as far back as a century ago.

One recent example is the Artycapucines collection, in which six contemporary artists took part in recreating the iconic bag as a limited edition item. Among them, Park Seo-bo, dubbed the maestro of dansaekhwa, or Korean monochrome painting, was the first Korean artist to be chosen for that project.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]