Celebrating the monogram by Louis Vuitton
Six iconoclasts, one iconic brand: Louis Vuitton enlisted some of the world’s greatest creatives, not only from the Fashion works but from the art, architecture and product design world, to reimagine its legendary logo: the monogram.
The monogram’s history
In 1854, Louis Vuitton founded his House. In 1896, his son Georges Vuitton created the monogram in honor of his late father. An icon was born.
Reinterpreted by most of the greatest pop culture artists, Stephen Srouse created the Monogram Graffiti in 2001, Takashi Murakami and his Monogram Multicolor in 2003, Richard Prince with the Monogram Watercolor in 20o8 or Yayoi Kusama with the Monogram Waves two years ago.
Now recognized globally as a defining signature, both literally and metaphorically, of the house of Louis Vuitton, the Monogram is celebrated in the 2014 Icon and the Iconoclasts collection.
The Celebrating Monogram project is a series of works that shows the distinctly personal side of the Monogram; re-presenting something we think we all know in an extraordinary, individual, and idiosyncratic way.
Six creative iconoclasts, the best in their fields, who blur the lines between fashion, art, architecture and product design, have been given carte blanche to dictate and make whatever they see fit in the patterned canvas.
Echoing the special Louis Vuitton centenary collection of 1996, where Azzedine Alaia, Manolo Blahnik, Romeo Gigli, Helmut Lang, Isaac Mizrahi, Sybilla and Vivienne Westwood contributed individual and distinct designs, for 2014’s collection, the participants have gone even further.
Here, Christian Louboutin, Cindy Sherman, Frank Gehry, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Newson and Rei Kawakubo radically, personally and playfully married their world to the Monogram to created an unparalleled collection.
A collection that once again defies expectations !
The punching bag by Karl Lagerfeld
For his 118 years, Louis Vuitton has been embellishing everything from steamer trunks to cigar cases with its logo.
These works include a tote with holes by Rei Kawakubo, a fold out trunk by Cindy Sherman, a backpack by Marc Newson, a shopping caddy by Christian Louboutin, and a distorted box by Frank Gehry.
Louis Vuitton even enlisted the heavyweight designer Karl Lagerfeld to create a limited-edition monogrammed punching bag.
The centerpiece of his lineup is a serious, full-size punching bag complete with a storage trunk, a stand, a mat, and boxing gloves that retails for approximately $175,000.
“I know more and more women — and men too— who have started to box. I thought it was something that one should do, if possible, in a very expensive way. So I designed the huge piece of luggage with the punching bag in it. I also wanted to make a bag that was inspired by that idea; it comes in different sizes. We made a special carpet with an application for beginners: where and how to put your feet and how to move. There is also a little bag with boxing gloves, it can be taken to the boxing appointment — I wanted to have a special Monogram for that too. It was really very childish, simple thinking!”, explained Karl Lagerfeld.
Priced at $175,000 USD, the punching bag set is produced in a limited quantity of 25.
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