LOUIS VUITTON X MURAKAMI: MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER COMEBACK

The re-edition does not merely replicate the past; it celebrates and evolves it.

- By MARBBIE TAGABUCBA

It was 2003. Minimalist chic was the trend, and a sea of utilitarian grays and beiges reflecting the dismal outlook of a global economy coping with the effects of a recession. The world needed some cheering up, badly, surely—and it took two separate cultural superpowers, Louis Vuitton and Takahashi Murakami, to vault in for an era-defining collaboration that pioneered designer collabs as we know it today. Big names in pop culture, from Kanye West, Madonna, and Rihanna to Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and fictional Regina George in Mean Girls cemented the kaleidoscopic Monogram Multicolore as a status symbol. Its value in the resale market today proves its enduring value.

Fast forward two decades: Louis Vuitton x Murakami returns with a re-edition that’s more than a re-edition in over 200 new creations. It feels as fresh today as it did 20 years ago.

Born in Tokyo in the 1960s, Murakami is one of the most influential artists of all time. His unique blend of traditional Japanese art, sci-fi, anime, and whimsical kawaii characters, often brought to life in repetitive motifs and depicted in paintings, sculptures, and films, embodies the intersection of pop culture, history, and fine art.

“At the time of its release, the contemporary art scene in New York was very conservative, and I think the fusing of art and fashion was not so widely accepted. Street art is a different story, but I remember because of that, when I exhibited my Monogram paintings in a gallery space, everyone was furrowing their eyebrows,” he reminisces.

But that’s what it’s like to be ahead of your time.