LV x YK 2023: Why Yayoi Kusama Collection is So Controversial?

This is not the first collaboration with a Japanese artist. As Louis Vuitton's market in Japan is pretty big, the fashion house throws in a collaboration with a Japanese Artist from time to time. The most known figure known to LV collectors worldwide is Takashi Murakami, who created several iconic prints, including the Multicolor line, Cherries and Monogramouflage collections, which are sold far over their initial price and specifically sought-for by the brand enthusiasts.

Yayoi Kusama was also the biggest Japanese creator and the first woman artist the fashion behemoth has collaborated with. The first collaboration saw the light of day in 2012, when traditional monogram canvas was sprinkled with vivacious multicolor polka dots. This 2012 Kusama collection was appreciated over time, with the prices going up. Will the 2023 collection repeat the success?

LV x YK Collection Prints

The collection includes several types of prints:

• dots over the signature Louis Vuitton canvas

• pumpkin print

• "faces" theme

• flowers (marquetry on the empreinte leather)

LV x YK Collection Full Collection Price list

The LV x YK collection embraces over 300 items, including clothing (jackets, t-shirts, shoes and hats), accessories (charms), bags and luggage. Generally, any item from the limited edition LV x YK collection is around $3,000. 

Why Yayoi Kusama Collection is So Controversial?

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist known for her avant-garde work in painting, sculpture, installation art, performance art, and fashion. She was born on March 22, 1929, in Matsumoto, Japan, and began creating art at a young age.

Kusama moved to the United States in the late 1950s and became a part of the New York art scene, where she developed her signature style of using repetitive patterns and motifs in her work. She became associated with the Pop Art movement and was a pioneer of performance art and installation art.

Kusama's work often explores themes of infinity, self-obliteration, and the connection between the individual and the universe. She has exhibited her work in major museums and galleries around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo.

In recent years, Kusama has become particularly well-known for her immersive "Infinity Rooms," which are installations that use mirrors and lights to create a sense of endless space. Her work has influenced a generation of artists and continues to inspire and captivate audiences around the world.

The controversy of this collection is the following. Kusama is now 93 years old. She resides in a mental institution since 1973. Her hallucinations is what inspired her signature prints. That fact by itself raises too many questions, as to whether we're celebrating that someone with such condition can still let their creativity and talent shine, or we're just poking fun at her. That's exactly the reason why many people felt uncertain about this collection.

Kusama Dots Across Flagship Paris Store 

The flagship Louis Vuitton store has celebrated this collection abundantly.

First, there are polka dot elements across the building. On the top corner of the flagship store, there's an enormous figure of the artist

You could see people gathering around Parisian Louis Vuitton Flagship windows, and witness how Yayoi Kusama herself is painting her signature polka dots on the window glass. Her eyeballs are moving. Once you observe the artist for a while, you discover that it's just a robot.

Summary

Louis Vuitton has been proudly collaborating with a lot of eminent artists across the world. The most successful ones, such as Yayoi Kusama, have returned in further collections. Is this collection is here to stay? This still remains to be seen, however, taking into the account the success of the 2012 Kusama collection, this polka dots limited editions do look promising as investment.