A Look Into Artist Vik Muniz’s Collaboration With Louis Vuitton’s Artycapucines Range
With a storied history of co-conspiring with the world’s boldest artists, Louis Vuitton’s latest Artycapucines collection is a beautiful new chapter in the maison’s collaboration legacy
When the art you hang on your apartment walls provides as many clues to your personal style as the handbag nestling in the crook of your arm, it’s more than natural that these two pillars of modern culture should conspire to collide with dramatic aesthetic results.
The twin disciplines of fashion and art have been intertwined for decades. Elsa Schiaparelli was inspired by – and inspired – Salvador Dalí’s surrealism in equal measures. When not shimmying on Studio 54’s dancefloor, Roy Halston used his good friend Andy Warhol’s flower prints on his dresses. Yves Saint Laurent’s pop art homage to Piet Mondrian is as recognisable as the original canvas. And on it goes…
But perhaps it is the Parisian Maison of Louis Vuitton who is most well-placed to continue a symbiotic relationship with our era’s most engaging artists. With the opening of its own epic gallery space on the outskirts of Paris in 2014, the Fondation Louis Vuitton is a bold, undulating glass-clad structure designed by Frank Gehry, and a statement space which makes Vuitton’s alignment with the contemporary art world evident to see.
From Stephen Sprouse’s graffititagged Speedy totes – an icon of Y2K style – through to collaborations with Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Yayoi Kusama, and Cindy Sherman (we could go on), Louis Vuitton has a history of inviting legends of the art world to reinterpret its most iconic accessories. Once again, Vuitton has aced the assignment. This month sees the launch of the third chapter of the Artycapucines collection – an exquisite project showcasing the world’s boldest artists, who have all lent their vision to Vuitton’s neat Capucines bag – a top-handle accessory that provides the perfect canvas for reinterpretation. A chic and feminine style, named after the Parisian street where Louis Vuitton first opened his store in 1854, it’s as worthy of a place on a plinth as in your wardrobe.
There are now 18 creations in the Artycapucine’s history and this time, Paola Pivi, Zeng Fanzhi, Donna Huanca, Huang Yuxing, Gregor Hildebrand and Vik Muniz have been privileged with the opportunity to bring their dreams to life on the Capucine.
Working alongside Vuitton’s team of artisan makers to screen-print on leather, embroider over 700,000 individual stitches (on one bag), or produce intricate marquetry designs, the maison’s commitment to craft is clear. Vik Muniz is the Brazilian artist and photographer who created the whimsical bag on these pages. Having started as a sculptor, Vik experiments with unconventional materials – tomato sauce, diamonds and magazine clippings have all appeared in his former creations.
For his contribution to the Artycapucines collection, Vik worked on a BB-sized bag inspired by his 2019 series, Quasi Tutto. Encrusted with 154 bright trompe l’oeil icons, the bag is a triumph of textural layering and charming playfulness. Randomly scattered across the pristine white leather we spotted a dinosaur, teapot and shoe alongside Louis Vuitton’s signature Monogram flower. Some of the icons have been added by embossed inkjet printing, others use marquetry techniques to inlay the motifs, others still are made from reused heritage leather in the most beautiful example of upcycling – which also echoes Vik’s environmentally responsible artistic practise.
If you do choose to use the bag, rather than exhibiting it on your coffee table, each time you open the clasp you’ll raise a smile. The smoothest sunshine-yellow leather lines the interior and the hardware is made from fine-grained hide that wittily mimics a canvas-like texture. The bags are only available in a limited edition of 200 and will be released on 29th October in stores worldwide. And as they say in the art world – going, going, gone!