Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama 2023: Everything You Need To Know

Back in 2006, when the then-creative director of Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, met the renowned Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama in her art studio in Tokyo, she gifted him the Louis Vuitton Ellipse Bag hand-painted with her signature dots. That meeting has since been cemented into the fashion history as the one that marked the beginning of one of the most iconic collaborations the Fashion World has ever seen. Yes, I am talking about Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama.

The first Louis Vuitton Kusama Collection landed in 2012 and it featured an array of Louis Vuitton’s classic accessories, shoes and ready-to-wear adorned with Kusama’s iconic dot art. As the artist herself has famously said in her 2003 autobiography, Infinity Net, “My desire was to predict and measure the infinity of the unbounded universe, from my own position in it, with dots”. Well, it definitely looks like Louis Vuitton is playing a big role in Kusama’s infinite universe, or else why would she choose to collaborate with the brand again?

Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama 2023 Collection

You heard it right, ten years after their initial creative exchange, the famous artist and Louis Vuitton are reuniting again. And this time around, the goal is to even further explore the World of Kusama. According to Louis Vuitton, this new chapter of the collaboration sees “Kusama’s talismanic objects, motifs and imaginings of infinity take over the Maison and all of its product categories”. Right, this time, in addition to womenswear, we are also getting menswear, shoes, sunglasses and other accessories dressed in Kusama’s iconic patterns.

The collection, revealed on Louis Vuitton’s Cruise 2023 Runway – just like the last time – will be divided into two drops. The first drop has already launched globally on January 6th and it centers around four Kusama motifs: the painted dots (inspired by a LV trunk hand-painted by Kusama in 2012), the infinity dots (as seen in the artist’s famous Infinity Rooms), the metal dots (inspired by the metallic orbs of Kusama’s Narcissus Garden) and the psychedelic flowers (inspired by Kusama’s 1993 “Flower Painting). The second drop is set to land Worldwide in the end of March and is going to focus more on Kusama’s pumpkin motif.

As expected, a plenty of Louis Vuitton’s signatures are seen throughout the collection, including the iconic Speedy, Alma and Neverfull Bags dressed in Kusama’s signature dots. Although, it should be noted that there were also some surprises. Yes, I am talking about the surfboard covered in Kusama’s famous Infinity Dots. Not sure how about you, but I certainly have a desire to learn how to surf now!

The first drop of the Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama 2023 Collection is available now through Louis Vuitton boutiques and on louisvuitton.com. Below, some of my favorite pieces from the collection.