Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami join forces again two decades after their landmark first collaboration

Original pairing that redefined the fashion landscape will be reinterpreted with a new collection launching on January 1

Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami teams up with Louis Vuitton again 20 years after their first collaboration. Photo: Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton is once again teaming up with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, to reissue a collaboration that helped reshape fashion in the early 2000s. The original project, spearheaded by Louis Vuitton’s then-artistic director Marc Jacobs, brought together the charmingly odd-couple pairing of the French luxury house and an artist known for his colour-drenched and playful work.

Today fashion collaborations are frequent enough to feel commonplace, but when the first Murakami collaboration made its way on to the spring-summer 2003 runway, it was audacious and groundbreaking. It helped establish commercially and artistically viable tie-ups. Jacobs was ahead of his time in this respect and went on to create other collections with artists Stephen Sprouse and Richard Prince and the rapper formally known as Kanye West.

Influenced by anime as well as western artists Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, Murakami's work is distinctive for its pop culture mood, with outlandish imaginary creatures in swirling patterns. His most famous creation Flowers, is a smiling face surrounded by flower petals, a version of which finds its way into this new collection.

Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami will be hoping this new collaboration captures some of the magic of their original team-up 20 years ago. Photo: Louis Vuitton

The original collaboration came about when Jacobs – having seen Murakami’s work at an exhibition at the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in Paris – invited him to rework the famous Louis Vuitton monogram across a series of bags. Jacobs sent models down the runway in Day-Glo-bright matching satin dresses clutching reworked Speedy, Keepall and Papillion bags adorned with 33 different colours. Violet, lime, pink, red, yellow, orange and multiple shades of blue replaced the traditional Vuitton brown monogram, now on a jet black or all white background.

Two decades on, Louis Vuitton and Murakami are revisiting the idea, releasing key originals and new arrivals. Louis Vuitton is promising that, thanks to advances in technology, the new arrivals will benefit from sharper, more defined printing for more vivid colours.

In addition to the original Monogram Multicolore artwork, new Flowers and Panda designs have been added and will be seen across multiple pieces, including core bags such as the Speedy, Coussin, Keepall, OnTheGo, Dauphine, Cappucine, Papillion and Alma BB.

Louis Vuitton's classic designs are once again emblazoned with the art of Japan's Takashi Murakami. Photo: Louis Vuitton

The distinctive Courrier Lozine 110 trunk (that speaks of the maison's history as a luggage maker) has also been reworked with Murakami’s art, as too have Attrape-Reves perfume bottles, silk squares and scarves. Sunglasses have also been freshly decorated, plus card holders, coin purses and a passport holder. Shoes including wedge heel sandals, slides, trainers and ballet flats have been redesigned, as well as jewellery, key rings and even a skateboard. Across the pieces, Murakami plays with the size and scale of the monogram expanding it to oversize, as well as sketching some of his figures across the surfaces.

The collection will no doubt be looking to replicate the success of the project the first time around. Back then, the bags were snapped by the likes of Naomi Campbell and Jennifer Lopez (who later headed the campaign), as well as mainstays of early-2000s pop culture Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Jessica Simpson and Pamela Anderson. The collection even scored a cameo in 2004's Mean Girls, cementing its pop culture status.

A strictly limited edition, the collection sparked a frenzy as customers scrambled to get hold of one, and 20 years later, the pairing is regarded as a classic. Rihanna is an avid collector, and both Zendaya and Kendal Jenner have been spotted toting original editions in recent years.

Customers will be able to order the bags from January 1, and the release will be accompanied by window displays, pop-ups and in-store activations. A second chapter is slated for March made with Murakami's Cherry Blossom artwork.