Louis Vuitton X Stephen Sprouse

Limited-edition Louis Vuitton x Stephen Sprouse handbags, sporting Day-Glo graffiti, debuted on the Spring/Summer 2001 runway and were an immediate hit. In 2009, Louis Vuitton released a tribute collection (Stephen Sprouse died in 2004) that featured two of Sprouse’s favorite versions — in a rose print and in a leopard print.

As creative director of Louis Vuitton, designer Marc Jacobs had an urge to “do things” with other creators and gave a glorious but slightly dusty old ship a fresh patina. Collaborations became a big story. In fact, Vogue covered Vuitton’s first collaboration with Stephen Sprouse three times in one season — unprecedented before or since. 

While visiting his friend French singer/actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jacobs noticed an old Louis Vuitton trunk, its canvas painted over in black with the color wearing away in places. Although he’d been told in no uncertain terms that he was never to mess with Vuitton’s logo, the transformed trunk sparked a thought. “I had this idea to kind of deface the monogram,” he said in a 2013 interview. “I wanted to do that with graffiti, which to me was always a kind of defiant act, a rebellious act and an anarchic act — but also something that creates . . . a new meaning.”

Jacobs knew just the person he wanted to work with. Designer and artist Steven Sprouse was an influential presence in the downtown New York City scene of the 1970s and ’80s. He dressed singer Debbie Harry, and “along with friends like Steven Meisel, Anna Sui and Terry Toy, ruled the bathroom at the Mudd Club,” says Jessica Glasscock, professor at Parsons School of Design, referring to the gritty performance venue frequented by downtown artists and musicians.

Jacobs knew Sprouse and admired him. “There was hearsay that Jacobs would not do graffiti without Sprouse,” says Glasscock. “Sprouse, as a designer, would have been very familiar with this idea of collaboration,” she adds. “He had done collaborations as far back as the 1980s with Keith Haring and with Andy Warhol.”

It was through his collab with Vuitton, however, that he became a fashion immortal. 

Find Louis Vuitton x Stephen Sprouse handbags and other accessories and clothing on 1stDibs.

The story behind iconic luxury brand Louis Vuitton — best known for its esteemed handbags, crossbody bags, leather goods, ready-to-wear clothing and more — is one of craft and innovation in the worlds of fashion, jewelry and furniture.

The company’s modest origins can be traced back to when its founder, Louis Vuitton (1821–92), wishing to free himself from the conventional lifestyle in his provincial French city of Anchay as well as a difficult stepmother, left in the early 1830s to make a new life in Paris. The young Vuitton was 13 at the time and would need to travel on foot to get to the capital, which was hundreds of miles away. With stops along the way to make money so that he could forge ahead, the journey took a couple of years, but reward was close at hand.

When he arrived in Paris, Vuitton made a living with his hands. He toiled as a box maker and packer for more than a decade and built relationships with royals and members of the upper class while working for the empress of France, Eugenie de Montijo. In 1854, Vuitton launched his namesake company. The craftsman opened a humble workshop on rue Neuve des Capucines and advertised his services with a small poster that read: “Securely packs the most fragile objects. Specializing in packing fashions.”

Long before his brand would become known globally for its exemplary top-handle bags and stylish totes, Vuitton produced stackable and rectangular trunks. The most common trunks of the era were round, which weren’t ideal for toting and storing. In 1858, Vuitton debuted his lightweight, handcrafted canvas trunks, which were sturdy, rugged and equipped with convenient compartments. Travel’s popularity broadened in the late 19th century, and Vuitton’s trunks could easily be packed into train cars and ships — upright trunks meant hanging wardrobe storage that would allow his clients to transport their sophisticated garments without worry. Demand increased and the company grew. When Louis Vuitton died in 1892, control of the luxury house was passed onto his only son, Georges Vuitton.

In 1914, a Louis Vuitton store opened at 70 Champs-Élysées. The largest travel-goods store in the world at the time, it became the company’s flagship.

The Louis Vuitton brand embodies all the attributes of luxury, from the craftsmanship, exclusivity and relevance to heritage. It’s only appropriate that it boasts one of the most recognizable insignias — the imaginative interlocking of letters and fleurettes — in the fashion world. The famous LV monogram was first used in 1896 as part of an initiative by Georges to prevent counterfeiting of his coveted new line of travel trunks. It’s one of the earliest examples of fashion branding.

The LV monogram would soon appear on everything from bags and various fashion accessories to alligator-skin champagne cases, from stylish apparel and earrings to teddy bears and airplane models.

On 1stDibs, the unmistakable insignia can be found on both modern and vintage Louis Vuitton shoulder bags, suitcases, original 19th-century trunks, jackets and more.