Edward Russell
French luxury house Louis Vuitton is best known for their iconic speedy bags with the unmissable monogram prints and LV logo, while American contemporary artist Jeff Koons is best known for his large balloon sculptures and pop culture references. They’re masters in their own field.
So when these two big names come together to collaborate in an explosion of fashion and pop art, expect something big, something thought-provoking and quite possibly, something really questionable. Expect legitimate art being worn around as accesories in the name of fashion.
Titled Masters, this collaborative project between the house and Koons had been in development under secrecy for over a year, only having been unveiled at the Louvre Dinner on April 11th. Heavily inspired by Koon’s Gazing Ball series, which also culled the works of classic masterpieces with a blue crystal ball, this incredible 51-piece capsule collection features five iconic classics from selected artists to be printed on leather goods, scarves and keychains.
The lucky five? Van Gogh, Rubens, Fragonard, Titian and da Vinci, of course.
“This project is the transcendence of what it means to be,” Koons stated vaguely on the project, but emphasising his interest on exploring the metaphysical means of the past and future through the eternal form of historical art and leather handbags. “I believe these bags are art.”
Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons Masters
While some people are down for the collaboration/ are die-hard LV fans/ have money but don’t have style, there are many others who are questioning and criticising the tasteless and dissent of what’s going on. High-brow commentators and those both within and out of the fashion circle are giving the collaboration mixed reviews, calling Koons’ work kitschy and not meeting the understanding of the general public, while others are calling it disrespectful to the likes of da Vinci and Rubens, who would be rolling in their graves for being printed onto leather bags for the luxury consumer market. Mixed feelings have even extended into the opinion that the collaboration has cheapened Louis Vuitton’s image, making it no different from a low-tier replica or a ‘souvenir bag available as a museum gift store’. Essentially, fans are saying that this collection is just making it a hell lot easier for counterfeits to make their way into black markets, which is damaging to the intellectual property for the coveted industry.
Louis Vuitton itself as a brand is one of the biggest fashion houses in the industry, long associated with awful knockoffs of their iconic monogram print. Interestingly enough, it brings up the question of why – why in the world of luxury, where so many elitists voice their distaste for forgery, fall to the consumerism of a capsule collection like this that is essentially the labour of replication (in both fashion and art). If we’re talking art, the Mona Lisa maybe one of the world’s most replicated and copied images in the world, so it’s almost a double form of redemption – in the most ironic way – for the house to become a counterfeit.
There’s a saying, if you can’t win ’em, join ’em – this must be what went through the minds of Koons and Creative Director Nicolas Ghesquière decided. It’s almost admirable in a way. With the power of Rubens and the sensuality of Titian, the duo aren’t simply creating a line of bags for consumers to buy, rather, they’re re-inventing the means of looking at historic art in a more modern form.
Anyway, for those who didn’t pay attention during Art History 101 in school but still want to get your hands onto a piece, the bags won’t just be printed with the likes of Van Gogh’s A Wheatfield with Cypresses, they’ll also be bedazzled with the artist – or Master’s – names and will come with a biography so you can look good and be artistically knowledgeable.
Pieces are expected to range between $600 and $8,000, respectively, of course. If you’re a fine art lover and in need of a new bag, or just haven’t been able to see any of the five masterpieces in real life, this might be the dream it-bag. (View the capsule collection here!)
