A candy world

    Louis Vuitton's candy-coloured ad campaign for S/S 2012 is just perfect!

The collection itself is a big hit, but the ad campaign is another level. So girly and feminine, so much PINK! It reminds me of innocent girl stuff-talks in the 1950s, like the first kiss or who's the most handsome boy at school. 

I loved the big lace collars and the large white buttons on the tweed skirtsuits. And the hair, it was amazing! Marc Jacobs did a great job again! But I started dreaming of pale colours now, like mint, yellow and pink...and the worst I started dreaming of colourful fatty treats, like cupcakes, macarons and candies. The bad thing is only that it's 12 o' clock at night here aka a bit hard to find any of these, which means I 'm going to eat my vanilla ice cream leftovers... (thank God there are some strawberries too in the fridge). 

I'm going for the fridge raid now...

                                   

   

Yayoi Kusama x Louis Vuitton = Infinity Dots

    After Takashi Murakami the next artist to collaborate with the french label Louis Vuitton is the also japanese Yayoi Kusama. Louis Vuitton has always supported contemporary art either by sponsoring exhibitions or launching special collections in association with artists.
   This last collaboration -including leather goods, clothing, footwear and accessories- with Yayoi Kusama, whose retrospective (sponsored by the French label) is currently in Tate Modern (9 February-5 June 2012) is going to be launched in July. Alongside the retrospective another collaboration between the two of them, this time on artworks, is showcased in Bond Street, in Louis Vuitton Maison's exhibition space.
   Yayoi Kusama is often acclaimed to be a Pop artist, but she is for sure a lot more than that. Born in 1929, she moved in New York in 1957 and by 1959 she had presented five of her "Infinity Nets", large white canvases covered with light net motives, which garnered comparisons to the Abstract Expressionism movement. In 1961 she went on to develop the "Accumulations", household items covered with white small sacks.

Accumulation No 2, 1968

   It was Donald Judd that first noticed her work was all about an obsession with repetition in 1964. This repetition though was that linked her work with the pattern of the phallic symbol. The "Aggregation: One Thousand Boats" installation was crucial, as it incorporated the element of camouflage leading her to her most recognizable pattern: the Dots. The result of this was her most known work, the "Infinity Mirror Room-Phalli's Field".

Infinity Mirror Room- Phalli's Field, 1965

   The use of the dots motif derives from a psychedelic culture, which also led her to check herself into a mental hospital back in Japan in the 1970s, where she stays until today. Hence it's sad that the only thing that comes in mind when hearing her name is "Dots"and not all this avant-garde background that has highlighted her as one of the most prominent female artists of the postmodernism.
   Not to mention that one of her "Infinity Nets", sold by Christie's New York for $5.1 million, hit a record for a female artist back in 2008. Imagine now the success the colourful dotted garments will have in combination with the french luxury brand.
Unfortunately, there are no images of the collection yet, but until that moment, you can visit the special website created for the collaboration and watch interviews of both sides, as well as find further information on Kusama and the Tate exhibition.

Dots Obsession- New Century, 2000

Le Grand Finale

Louis Vuitton

 

The final day of an exhausting Fashion Month started with a remarkable show that a lot of us are going to bring back in mind for years and years to come...
   The train arrived at ten and models started disembark, followed by their porters carrying their precious leather Louis Vuitton luggages. Marc Jacobs has done a terrific job for Louis Vuitton all these past fifteen years he's been working for the label and so was this collection, too. The Stephen Jones hats, just like in the Marc Jacobs colection, just blew your mind and the oversized silhouettes reminded you of another times. The only thing that disappointed me was that, in spite of adoring the silhouettes, they were looking a lot to those at the Marc Jacobs show, still the textiles were more luxurious. Thus, the following queries have been surrounding my mind since then: Why would anyone use the same patterns for two different shows? Is it Marc Jacobs style that has invaded Louis Vuitton, or the opposite? Is it a lack of inspiration? And if so, why doesn't he quit?
   But that's just my own perspective. Some may consider it a good aspect, the creation of two slightly different versions of a single collection. However, Miuccia Prada played also with this aspect with her Miu Miu collection that took place some hours later. Though it was not the same, as what Miuccia used for both her collections was not the silhouettes, it was the 1970s' spirit  prints, those reminding of wallpapers. And of course both collections were based on pantsuits, after many years of skirts, but this is something totally different and, at the very least, we are talking about her own two labels, not her work for another label.
   As for the rest, they played more safely presenting cute, still non-innovative slim silhouettes, while the most interesting works were Masha Ma's constructive trompe-l'-oeil dresses, as well as Allude's burgundy, pashmina-belted pantsuits and Elie Saab's peplum skirtsuits.

Louis Vuitton 

Talbot Runhof

Arzu Kaprol

Allude

Miu Miu

Masha Ma

Elie Saab

Maison Rabih Kayrouz

Collette Dinnigan

Lie Sang Bong

TRIAS

Photos: various places