\n\tPARIS<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Louis Vuitton\u00a0is betting on a dose of Y2K nostalgia to perk up luxury consumers on New Year\u2019s Day, when the reedition of its\u00a0seminal collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami\u00a0will land in stores in tandem with a campaign fronted by Zendaya.<\/p>\n \n\tMurakami and Pietro Beccari, chairman and chief executive officer of\u00a0Louis Vuitton, spoke with WWD about reuniting more than two decades after the launch of the line that set the mold for collaborations between artists and luxury brands.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Articles<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\u201cYoung people are reviving that era, and we want to connect with them through this re-release,\u201d Beccari said in an exclusive interview conducted via email. <\/p>\n \n\tThe Louis Vuitton x Murakami collection is set to roll out next week with pop-up activations in seven cities worldwide that include experiences such as caf\u00e9s, cinemas, care stations and vending machines where clients who purchase a piece from the collection can win gifts like stickers, Tamagotchi or trading cards.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn Milan, the French luxury brand will take over two trams, one with a caf\u00e9 and one with a cinema screening remastered versions of the artist\u2019s original \u201cSuperflat Monogram\u201d and \u201cSuperflat First Love\u201d short films, released in 2003 and 2009, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn addition to a full pop-up, Seoul will have a Louis Vuitton x Murakami ice cream shop and a photo booth experience.<\/p>\n \n\tThe line, to be released in two drops in January and March, spans more than 200 references, ranging from the brand\u2019s signature City Bags to accessories such as silk scarves, sunglasses, fashion jewelry, sneakers, perfume bottles and a skateboard.<\/p>\n \n\tItems range from a notebook priced at 90 euros to the ultimate collector\u2019s item: a made-to-order Malle Wardrobe trunk containing 33 Speedy bags (price available on request).\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe original Monogram Multicolore designs, unveiled at the label\u2019s spring 2003 show under then-creative director\u00a0Marc Jacobs, were an instant hit, worn by \u201cIt\u201d girls like Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Simpson and the fictional queen bee character Regina George in the cult movie \u201cMean Girls.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThey generated more than $300 million in sales in one year.<\/p>\n \n\tWith a generation raised on the internet embracing the warm glow of early 2000s nostalgia, items from the original Murakami collaboration, and successive installments such as the Cherry Blossom and Monogramouflage collections, have remained in high demand on the resale market, paving the way for a revival.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere are a plurality of reasons and decisions that went into this reedition. I must say that we also came back to the subject with Takashi because we had noticed the wild rise of the vintage and secondhand market, and that celebrities were spontaneously wearing colorful pieces, regularly bringing them back out of their wardrobes with a great deal of pride,\u201d Beccari said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe wanted to reach out to the generation who is not yet familiar with that collaboration, but who loves what was done 20 years ago and more recently with the Monogramouflage,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \n\tSpeaking at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, Murakami said he has built a strong relationship with Beccari over the years, and they reconnected after\u00a0Pharrell Williams, another longtime friend and collaborator, was\u00a0named creative director of menswear\u00a0at the house in 2023.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBefore it was announced publicly, Pharrell and Pietro and I met at the Louis Vuitton office,\u201d he recalled. \u201cHe\u2019s just been very, very kind, and I felt like we had a really great vibe together.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWhen Murakami requested the use of a Vuitton Monogram Multicolore trunk to display alongside his \u201cFlower Parent and Child\u201d sculpture at the Kyoto Kyocera Museum of Art last year, Beccari immediately agreed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe reason was because, in Japan, contemporary art is sort of a minor interest, whereas fashion is something everyone\u2019s really, really interested in,\u201d Murakami explained. \u201cI thought it would be something good to attract Japanese audiences\u2019 attention.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe idea for reviving the collaboration, which officially ended in 2010 and was\u00a0phased out of stores\u00a0in 2015, was born. \u201cIt just seemed like a very natural thing,\u201d said the 62-year-old artist, who has 2.6 million followers on Instagram.<\/p>\n \n\tNow the same sculpture has been temporarily installed in the Jardin d\u2019Acclimatation, the open-air children\u2019s leisure park flanking the Vuitton Foundation in the Bois de Boulogne to the west of Paris.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s something of a full-circle moment for Murakami, who noted that art collectors frequently buy his work because it appeals to their kids. He created the \u201cSuperflat\u201d animation films with Vuitton with an eye to engaging future generations.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cArt 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\u2019s 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,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n \n\tA self-confessed \u201cotaku,\u201d a Japanese term that loosely translates as \u201cgeek,\u201d Murakami is a fan of Zendaya\u2019s \u201cDune\u201d and \u201cSpiderman\u201d movies, and is pleased that the actress, who was just seven years old when the collaboration first launched, is now the face of the line.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s like what I had imagined back then: the children seeing that collaboration in anime, growing up with them, have now become the new fans of the brand. That\u2019s what I was hoping for and it\u2019s becoming a reality, so I\u2019m really glad,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tA house ambassador since 2023, Zendaya appears in collage-style images lensed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin against a backdrop of city skylines, roller coasters and parks.<\/p>\n \n\tHer hair styled in long blond braids, the \u201cEuphoria\u201d star wears items from the collection including the All In BB, Speedy 25 and Capucines Mini bags, surrounded by Murakami\u2019s Superflat Garden floral motifs and his playful Superflat and Superflat Panda characters.<\/p>\n \n\tShe also appears in two short films. In a teaser, Murakami sends a retro-style flip-top mobile phone from his hometown of Tokyo to New York, where Zendaya opens it to release the reedition characters. The second video shows her playing and dancing with the cartoon images against the campaign\u2019s backdrops.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe reedition, which follows Vuitton\u2019s revival of\u00a0its collaboration with Yayoi Kusama\u00a0last year, comes at a time of stalled growth for the luxury sector overall. <\/p>\n \n\tEven Vuitton\u2019s parent company\u00a0LVMH Mo\u00ebt Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the industry\u2019s bellwether, is feeling the squeeze. The world\u2019s biggest luxury group\u00a0missed market expectations\u00a0with a 4.4 percent drop in revenues in the third quarter, blaming lower growth in Japan and a \u201cmarked deterioration\u201d in sales of clothing and accessories to Chinese nationals.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIndeed, we are currently facing something of a crisis, potentially more severe than past ones. However, it is important not to be short-sighted,\u201d Beccari said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAfter 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\u2019s values and desirability in the meantime,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOur role is not to make political statements or act as activists; we are in the fashion industry. While our products may not change lives, they can certainly add an element of fun and create emotions. This collection perfectly embodies that mission,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \n\tTo reignite Asian demand, the collection is launching first in Japan and China, where it will be available for preorder on Friday ahead of arriving in stores on Jan. 1. In the rest of the world, it will be available for preorder on New Year\u2019s Day, and in stores on Jan. 3.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Monogram Multicolore in 33 colors features on handbags including the Keepall, the Coussin, the Dauphine, the OnTheGo and the Speedy, as well as on belts, wallets, wedge espadrilles and the Rolling Trunk suitcase.<\/p>\n \n\tThe LV Hands logo appears on Alma BB bags and a silk square, while the Superflat Panda is used on sneakers, keyrings and a skateboard, and the Superflat Garden on Attrape-R\u00eaves perfume bottles and Capucines bags.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Cherry Blossom motif will feature on Papillon bags, platform sandals and the Courrier Lozine 110 Fleurs trunk, which are part of the second installment coming in spring.<\/p>\n \n\tBeccari said advances in technology meant the motifs were even more vivid this time around. \u201cA new and exciting addition will also be some Murakami trading cards that we expect will be very well received by our younger clients and generations,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \n\tThe colorful pop-ups, loosely inspired by Tokyo\u2019s famous pod hotels, will open in early January in New York City, London, Milan, Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore, and will stay open for three weeks.<\/p>\n \n\tIn Shanghai, three separate spaces will bow on Julu Road for one week only: a caf\u00e9, a retail location and a cinema space strewn with Murakami flower cushions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn addition to buying new products, customers can bring items from the original collections to be repaired. Free services include canvas and metal cleaning, and replacing small pieces like snap buttons or metallic sliders. For a fee, Vuitton can also swap handles and straps.<\/p>\n \n\tThe temporary spaces will also display archival designs, such as the Monogram Dalmatien design sported by Jennifer Lopez in a 2003 campaign for Vuitton.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe caf\u00e9 spaces offer drinks and baked goods in dedicated packaging, while the vending machines are an opportunity to snag collectibles.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe believe that physical activations offer a unique and memorable experience that digital campaigns alone cannot fully replicate,\u201d Beccari said.<\/p>\n \n\tHe tied the initiative to Vuitton\u2019s positioning as a \u201ccultural\u201d brand.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe are not here just to sell products; it\u2019s about sharing fantastic stories and values that go beyond mere commercial transactions,\u201d he said. \u201cBy merging art with brands like Louis Vuitton, we create and shape culture.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe noted that Vuitton broke boundaries by opening a pop-up store at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in tandem with a retrospective of Murakami\u2019s work in 2007.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat itself was something quite exceptional at the time \u2014 offering exclusive products and even Murakami\u2019s paintings, marking a unique fusion of art and commerce,\u201d the executive noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIt went even further for the launch of the Monogramouflage collection in 2008, timed to coincide with the retrospective\u2019s arrival at the Brooklyn Museum. Vuitton poked fun at Canal Street vendors by\u00a0installing its own faux storefronts\u00a0outside the museum.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThis installation turned the concept of fakes on its head, with fake vendors who were actually real sales advisers selling genuine products from the collaboration. This creative approach went viral on the internet and contributed to the success of Monogramouflage,\u201d Beccari recalled.<\/p>\n \n\tMurakami said the Vuitton collaboration was considered disruptive at the time. \u201cPart of the thing I was doing was to paint the monogram itself onto canvas and then present it as painting,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t receive any specific criticism, but what I noted was that my art works that were coming up at auction for maybe a year after I did the collaboration, the price was going down,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI still don\u2019t think that in the contemporary art world of the time, it was so well received.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIt did, however, turn him into a celebrity in Japan, where he would be stopped in the street by fans of his Vuitton collections.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tLater on, he understood he had made fashion history when discussing the collaboration with Virgil Abloh, Vuitton\u2019s late artistic director of menswear, with whom he worked on several exhibitions.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe was telling me how he and Kanye [West] and other people around him, when they saw the first collaboration and the monogram turned into the colorful, white background, they thought, \u2018Oh, this is art.\u2019 So they were really excited about it,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I finally understood what it might have done.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHe credits collaborations with bringing fresh perspective to his work. His Kaikai Kiki studio has worked with brands including Hublot, Supreme, Uniqlo, Crocs and Billionaire Boys Club.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhen I\u2019m working with designers and collaborators, they work with my work and modify my artwork in a way that I can\u2019t imagine or come to think of, so the reason I\u2019ve been surviving for over 30 years now is because I keep getting new stimulation and inspiration through these collaborations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tHe periodically finds fresh sources of creativity, such as his recent work with K-pop band New Jeans.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s like a unified concept or process for doing all of these different collaborations. There was a long period of time when I was not doing many collaborations, but in recent years I really feel like, I\u2019m going to die soon, so whenever anyone wants to do something, why not say yes?\u201d he said with a laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHe even hopes to make a third animated film in support of the Vuitton collaboration, this time telling an \u201cintergenerational story\u201d from the perspective of an older woman and her granddaughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tBeccari, meanwhile, suggested Vuitton may not be done reviving its greatest hits, which also include graffiti-inspired designs by Stephen Sprouse.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cFuture reeditions are always a possibility, as the success of past collaborations continues to resonate. We remain open to revisiting and celebrating these iconic partnerships in innovative ways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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