Louis Vuitton Unveils New Collaboration with Jeff Koons

By Dan Ahwa
Viva
Jeff Koons. Picture / Supplied.

Fashion and art collaborations are wide and varied but here's one of behemoth proportions: Louis Vuitton and Jeff Koons.

The luxury giant has teamed up with the 62-year-old New York-based artist for an exclusive 51-piece collection of bags and accessories, called Masters, arriving in Louis Vuitton stores worldwide from April 28. The unique collaboration utilises five paintings from Koons' 2015 Gazing Ball paintings - reproductions of classics - which make their way onto some of the brand's most iconic bags and accessories.

Known as an artist to the masses, Koons' work is equally loved and loathed for its tenacity and audacity, questioning the place of art in pop culture through his polarising portfolio of work across a career that spans over 40 years.

"My primary motivation was to celebrate life, to make something special. This is the time we live in," Koons explains of the collaboration. "I’ve been productive up to this point, and I really still have a chance to make things I want to make. And I wanted to make this special grouping of bags with Louis Vuitton."

The collaboration is no small feat, and has been two years in the making. Of the 35 paintings from that series, Louis Vuitton and Koons have highlighted five: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (1503-1506); Jean-Honore Fragonard’s Girl with Dog (c.1770); Peter Paul Rubens' Tiger Hunt (1615-1616); Vincent van Gogh’s A Wheatfield with Cypresses (1889); and Tiziano Vecellio’s (better known as Titian) Mars, Venus and Cupis (c.1546).

WATCH: An Interview with Jeff Koons for Masters

Share this article:

Featured