X Marks the Spot
The Louis Vuitton X exhibit is an Instagram-worthy immersive fashion experience that celebrates the house’s collab history.
The corner of Rodeo Drive and South Santa Monica Boulevard is clad with a pink-to-orange ombré facade. On the posh L.A. strip, the electric exterior for the Louis Vuitton X exhibit looks like a fashion funhouse, which isn’t so far-fetched. Inside the 10 rooms are more than 180 pieces selected from the house’s 160 years of collaborations. Highlights include a custom trunk designed for conductor Leopold Stokowski as well as modern commissions like the 2018 trunk designed specifically to carry Vermeer’s The Milkmaid safely from Amsterdam to Tokyo. A room dedicated to the 1996 centennial celebration of the monogram canvas houses a nostalgic collection including an umbrella backpack by Sybilla, a travel case for shoes by Manolo Blahnik and a bum bag by Vivienne Westwood. Collaborations like these, as well as others with Jeff Koons, Frank Gehry and Cindy Sherman, have become highly collectible. For its most recent creative partnership—the Artycapucines collection—Louis Vuitton asked six contemporary artists to put their own spin on the classic Capucine bag. The Capucine pieces from Sam Falls, Urs Fischer, Tschabalala Self, Jonas Wood, Alex Israel and Nicholas Hlobo close the exhibit. There are only 300 of each bag, so, much like a limited edition, the ultimate illusion in this funhouse is identifying the line between fashion and art. Or, as Hlobo puts it, “art and fashion are not so different.” The exhibit is on until September 15.