Louis Vuitton Kusama

When Louis Vuitton x Kusama was unveiled, in 2012, it marked Louis Vuitton’s biggest launch to date, timed to coincide with the Yayoi Kusama retrospectives at Tate Modern, in London, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York. 

In his role as creative director at Vuitton, American fashion designer Marc Jacobs had become less rebellious by then. Kusama, age 83 at the time of the launch, is an artist who deals with obsession, often expressed through her favorite graphic form: polka dots (or “infinity nets,” as she terms them). 

A longtime Kusama fan, Jacobs saw the collab as an opportunity to share her vision with a wider audience. “For many people who don’t look at art or go to galleries,” he told Vogue at the time, “there will be a new venue, a new place to see this work and to come to appreciate it through the eyes of Louis Vuitton.”

The Louis Vuitton x Kusama collection went beyond handbags, with skirts, tops, shoes and scarves also getting the red-dot treatment. And don’t forget real estate: Across the globe, Vuitton store exteriors were swathed in polka dots, while windows and interiors became alternative universes where visitors could enjoy Kusama’s “world that never ends,” as Vogue put it in a 2012 profile of the artist.

Louis Vuitton presented its second collaboration with Yayoi Kusama in January of 2023.

Find Louis Vuitton x Kusama bags and other vintage Louis Vuitton bags today 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.