Yayoi Kusama art installations pop up at Louis Vuitton

In early 2023, to celebrate the launch of its new collection with Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, Louis Vuitton flagship stores in major global cities underwent a vibrant transformation with a series of colourful art installations showcasing the artist’s signature works.

Perhaps the most ambitious of the installations was at the maison’s Champs-Élysées flagship, over which a giant inflatable replica of the artist was erected. Kusama’s signature painted polka dots, in multiple shades, also decorated the façade.

Yayoi Kusama’s influential style also took 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 featured the same painted polka dots and a 15-metre-high inflatable Kusama, with her paintbrush poised. The polka dots continued inside on the display windows, elevators, and staircases.

London’s New Bond Street store featured 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 featured 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, painted from the inside—visible to those on the street.

Other activations could 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.

www.louisvuitton.com