Masters remixed
Louis Vuitton’s Jeff Koons collaboration returns with a second wave
Louis Vuitton has unveiled the second wave of its Jeff Koons ‘Masters’ collaboration, having first teamed up in April this year.
Contemporary art’s master of high and low, Koons is famed for taking kitsch ephemera like balloon dogs and imagery from drinks adverts, scaling it up and rendering it in unexpected materials. This new instalment of his Louis Vuitton collab once again takes its cues from the artist’s 2015 Gazing Ball series – which saw him create large-scale reproductions of iconic paintings, with the addition of a blue mirrored sphere, allowing viewers to see own reflections in the work.
Debuting on 27th October, this time Koons’ has turned his hand to imitable works such as Reclining Girl by François Boucher; Delightful Land by Paul Gauguin; Luncheon on the Grass by Edouard Manet; Water Lilies by Claude Monet; The Triumph of Pan by Nicolas Poussin and Ancient Rome by J.m.W. Turner.
“They are part of my DNA… When somebody walks down the street with this bag, or sits in a cafe with this bag,” Koons says of the Manet Neverfull, “it’s communicating a love of humanism.”
Remixing these historical works with Louis Vuitton’s signature Speedy, Keepall and Neverfull styles, a new series of handbag shapes have also been introduced: the Montaigne, the Pochette and the Noé.
As with the first drop, the collaboration sees Koons reconfigure the famous Louis Vuitton monogram to incorporate the artist’s initials, the first time the house has ever allowed a re-design of its iconic LV motif. Finished with a leather inflatable rabbit – a reference to Koons’ 1986 stainless-steel sculpture Rabbit – these bags are sure to be hot property.
The new collection is available to shop in store and online from 27th October.