Yayoi Kusama's Infinite Dots Bounce To Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton's second drop with Yayoi Kusama Creating Infinity follows a debut chapter of the house borrowing Yayoi Kusama's artistic signature that have made her a recognisable cultural force everywhere and anywhere; her dots.

Unlike Damien Hirst's specialist polka dot paintings conceived in 1988 - which are as much about technical precision as they are about technicolour - Kusama's calming and methodical works involving the act of repeatedly painting dots have existed for much of the artist's life. Having straddled the disciplines of painting, performance art, installation and sculpture, Kusama's foray into fashion started ten years ago with Louis Vuitton, marking a full circle moment with their second collaboration, which now sees A-Listers Justin Timberlake, Lea Seydoux, Cate Blanchett, Naomi Osaka, Hoyeon and Zhou Dongyu captured in portraits by Steven Meisel, all wearing key pieces from the collection.

As far as art and fashion collaborations go, Louis Vuitton is no stranger to the two industries colliding. The storied house's long history of working with artists can even be traced back to the brand's early days when the eponymous founder's grandson and family aesthete Gaston-Louis Vuitton began commissioning artists to create store windows and works for the stores themselves. Fast forward a century, and the 1980s saw Louis Vuitton keen to hold on to their heritage by tapping the likes of Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami among others to collaborate. In 2023, Kusama's takeover remains no different, adapting her pop explosion for bags, menswear, womenswear, accessories, denim and even Louis Vuitton shopfronts.

Above all, this isn't about the hype of Kusama's multi-coloured world or the LV label; this is about the excellence of craft and how that manifests when two established names temporarily forge as one; it is in the making of magical objects that transcend both space and time that both are engaged in and recognise each other through. This is as much about emotion as it is about fashion, what it means and feels like to own such a coveted item that has become a work of art upon its own merit, all thanks to Kusama's imagination. The dots are infinite, but this collaboration encompasses more than dots; there are pumpkins, flowers and faces that characterise the world of Louis Vuitton, too, enveloping one-of-a-kind creations that are made to last to infinity and beyond.

Drop 2 of Creating Infinity launches 31 March.