louis vuitton X exhibition immerses visitors in 160 years of collaboration

louis vuitton is celebrating 160 years of creative exchanges and artist collaborations with a temporary retrospective detailing the maison’s history. entitled ‘louis vuitton X’, the french fashion house draws on over 180 items from its archives, bringing together a remarkable collection of early twentieth-century special-order trunks, art deco perfume bottles and iconic monogram bags reworked by renowned artists and designers such as karl lagerfeld, rei kawakubo, cindy sherman, and frank gehry.

images courtesy of louis vuitton

now open to the public, the vibrant exhibition, which takes place in a converted mansion on rodeo drive, is set across two floors and is comprised of ten distinct rooms. louis vuitton X presents objects and artworks in the following order: ‘louis vuitton: as seen by…;’ ‘origins: a tradition of modernity;’ ‘reinterpreting icons;’ ‘the monogram as a blank canvas;’ ‘art on silk;’ ‘art meets fashion;’ ‘lights, camera, action! louis vuitton on the red carpet’ and ‘magic malle: the past is present’.

opening the exhibition, ‘in louis vuitton: as seen by …,’ features a portrait of louis vuitton by american painter alex katz. the portrait was commissioned as part of an ongoing project for the brand that will see the house commission portraits from important artists from the 20th and 21st century to re-imagine the brand’s founder.

as visitors journey through the series of multi-hued spaces, the digitally-savvy among them will discover three louis vuitton-inspired instagram camera effects — developed specifically for the exhibition. using a smartphone, guests scan a bar code to unlock x-ray and technicolor filters that are exclusive and unique to the space.

a digital wall display pays tribute to the brand’s monogram holdall, including a never-before-seen bronze sculpture by sylvie fleury. other highlights include silk scarves by japanese architect arata isozaki as well as american conceptual artist sol lewitt.

louis vuitton X culminates with ‘artycapucines: six visions of a contemporary classic.’ timed to the exhibition, it celebrates the house’s latest collaborative project with six leading contemporary artists: sam falls, urs fischer, nicholas hlobo, alex israel, tschabalala self and jonas wood.

named after the street on which vuitton opened his first store, all artists have transformed the capucines bag according to their own aesthetic. israel designed a bright wave that includes quirky details such as a comb and mirror; woods fused 3D printed leather and hand-embroidery for his piece; fischer six detachable and hyper-realistic silicone fruit and vegetable charms; hlobo’s features a stitched leather pattern; self deconstructed the iconic monogram, crafting it back together in a patchwork; and fall’s is accompanied by the natural elegance of mother-of-pearl on the LV signature and handle rings.