Home / Art

Yayoi Kusama’s Iconic Polka Dots Take Over Louis Vuitton Stores Around the World

Yayoi Kusama Louis Vuitton Collaboration

View of the façade of Louis Vuitton in Paris, France. (Photo: frlegros/Depositphotos)

If you take a walk on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, you may come across a startling new sight. In celebration of their collaboration with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, French luxury brand Louis Vuitton has redecorated several locations around the world with iconic polka dots and life-like animatronics. These special installations are timed with the release of Louis Vuitton's capsule collection inspired by Kusama's inspiring creative career.

The overhaul of these stores ranges from subtle additions to window displays and interiors to surreal additions to the building itself. Most noticeable perhaps, is the massive balloon portrait of Kusama herself which is affixed to the exterior of Louis Vuitton's flagship store in Paris. It is placed on the roof of the art deco structure with one arm hanging over the windows as she appears to paint the dozens of rainbow dots covering the façade.

This isn't the only location to receive a Kusama makeover, though. In Tokyo, the Louis Vuitton store remade their window displays in the style of Kusama's pumpkin art, with a pattern of black polka dots on a warm yellow background covering the walls and floors. And on the Fifth Avenue location in New York, you can find an uncanny animatronic of Kusama painting inside the windows. From afar, it looks nearly identical to the artist, and moves in slow, deliberate movements; it even blinks and moves its lips to enhance the effect.

Scroll down to see more images of this incredible collaboration.

Around the world, select Louis Vuitton stores have been redecorated in Yayoi Kusama's iconic style.

From Paris to Tokyo, these locations have added polka dots and paintings inspired by Kusama's creative career to their window displays and to the exterior of their stores.

Some locations, like the store on Fifth Avenue in New York, even have a lifelike animatronic of Kusama who appears to be carefully painting the store window.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Louis Vuitton (@louisvuitton)

h/t: [dezeen, TimeOut]

Related Articles:

Yayoi Kusama’s New Exhibition ‘One With Eternity’ Opens in D.C.

Yayoi Kusama’s Giant Polka Dot Sculptures Take Over the New York Botanical Garden

How Pumpkins Have Inspired Yayoi Kusama’s Avant-Garde Art for Decades

Margherita Cole

Margherita Cole is a Contributing Writer at My Modern Met and illustrator based in Southern California. She holds a BA in Art History with a minor in Studio Art from Wofford College, and an MA in Illustration: Authorial Practice from Falmouth University in the UK. She wrote and illustrated an instructional art book about how to draw cartoons titled 'Cartooning Made Easy: Circle, Triangle, Square' that was published by Walter Foster in 2022.
Become a
My Modern Met Member
As a member, you'll join us in our effort to support the arts.
Become a Member
Explore member benefits

Sponsored Content