The contemporary artist’s signature motifs have taken over the façades and interiors of Louis Vuitton flagship stores around the world in a series of vibrant installations to mark the luxury maison’s new Yayoi Kusama collection.
To celebrate the launch of its new collection with Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, Louis Vuitton flagship stores in major global cities have undergone a vibrant transformation with a series of colourful art installations that showcase the artist’s signature works.
Perhaps the most ambitious of the installations is the maison’s Champs-Élysées flagship, over which a giant inflatable replica of the artist has been erected. Kusama’s signature painted polka dots, in multiple shades, also decorate the façade.
Yayoi Kusama’s influential style has also taken over one of the world’s most famous department stores, with Harrods also undergoing a complete transformation of its exterior and interior. The façade of the historic building on London’s Brompton Road features the same painted polka dots and a 15-metre-high inflatable Kusama, with her paintbrush poised. The polka dots continue inside on the display windows, elevators, and staircases.
London’s New Bond Street store features large, 3-D multi-colour sculptures and an animatronic Kusama figure in the window.
Across the Atlantic in New York, Louis Vuitton’s Fifth Avenue flagship features a large portrait of the artist painting her polka dots while clutching a handbag from the new collection. Visible in the window, a lifelike Kusama animatronic robot wearing a wig that alludes to her famous pumpkin motif, paints from the inside—visible to those on the street.
Other activations can be seen at Louis Vuitton stores in Tokyo, Chengdu, and Milan. Louis Vuitton’s new collection with Kusama comes 10 years after their first collaboration and follows other popular collections with artists such as Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami.
