Wearing art on your sleeve, courtesy of Louis Vuitton

The luxury brand of Louis Vuitton has a long-standing tradition of collaborating with artists. The latest collaboration is the Artycapucines, a collection of six designs on the iconic Capucines bag. The Capucines purse was first introduced in 2013 and it was named after Rue des Capucines, the Parisian street where Louis Vuitton opened his first store in 1854.

The Capucines was an instant classic and it quickly became one of the brand’s most iconic bags. In 2019, Louis Vuitton partnered with six of the world’s most relevant artists in order to reimagine the bag in their signature style.

Each bag comes in a limited edition of only 200 and transforms the “wearer” into a gallery. The artists’ signature sensibilities fill the bags’ blank canvases.

Courtesy of an interview with the artists for V Magazine, Alex Israel said, “I decided to reimagine the surface of the bag as one of my wave paintings. We’re a beach culture here in Southern California, and waves dictate the rhythm and pace of L.A. life. What originated as a flat, animated image took on a more sculptural, squishy, wetsuit-inspired quality.” His eye-catching wave design with bold coloring is striking.

Further, Nicholas Hlobo said, “I stitch on my paintings and drawings, and my sculptures are created by layering found materials such as leather, [tires] and copper pipes. I started by looking at the Louis Vuitton motifs, in particular the flower. I felt that I could interpret it as something growing from the bag—literally emerging from it.”

For his iteration for the 2019 collection, Nicholas Hlobo was inspired by the flower within the Louis Vuitton monogram canvas. His application intertwines fabrics, details, patterns, and colors that give an impression that these various textures grew from the bag’s interior.

The South Africa-born artist is known for his intricate multi-dimensional objects. Hlobo uses tactile materials such as leather, rubber, and wood to create pieces that are made through the melding together of differing materials… similar to the many dichotomies of present-day South Africa. The artist said (courtesy of an interview with Harper’s Bazaar Arabia with Connie Chamerlayne), “I wanted to mirror the ways in which I use different materials in my work. I stitch onto my paintings and drawings, and my sculptures are created by layering found materials such as leather, tyre tubes and copper pipes. I started by looking at the Louis Vuitton motifs, and in particular, the flower. I felt that I could interpret it as something blooming from the bag… an element literally emerging from it. Bags tend to have clean lines and I wanted to really break from that; to introduce bulging elements that do not have a sense of conforming, and the feeling that [something] is growing from beneath the bag’s surface.”

Last year, Louis Vuitton put forth another limited edition Artycapucines Collection. The six contemporary artists selected were Beatrix Milhazes, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Josh Smith, Zhao Zhao, Henry Taylor, and Liu Wei. The bags differ in every way possible… one is a sculptural interpretation and another is a raffia bag with a beaded handle. Unfortunately, many of these are sold to art collectors and VIP’s before they even hit the boutiques’ shelves.

Josh Smith, an artist who grew up in rural Tennessee and now lives in New York, is known for his signature “name” paintings. When asked to be a part of this prestigious collection, Smith says he had one important caveat (courtesy of a Financial Times article with Francesca Gavin), “I insisted that they did not use any animal products which they were happy to do.” The bag’s style was crafted into a canvas bag that was embroidered with 370,000 white stitches that follow the direction of Smith’s brushstrokes. The canvas and stitches were then heated in a complex, time-consuming process of sublimation, before Smith’s name was re-embroidered, and the LV logo inlaid. Smith says, “It was entirely different to painting. This was essentially hands-off.”

So the bottom line is… the question of “Is Fashion Art” might remain a question to some; but these twelve artists are pretty clear in their answer… yes, fashion IS indeed art!