For more than two decades, Takashi Murakami’s relationship with Louis Vuitton has reshaped how we understand the intersection of fine art and luxury. What began in 2003 with the now iconic Monogram Multicolored under Marc Jacobs has evolved into a fully realized artistic dialogue one that fuses the Maison’s meticulous savoir-faire with Murakami’s hallucinatory imagination.
In the 2025 Artycapucines collection, that conversation reaches new depth. “Over the past 20 years, from my first collaboration to this 2025 project, I believe Louis Vuitton’s atelier has made remarkable technological advancements,” Murakami reflects. He speaks with the curiosity of an artist who has witnessed the evolution of craftsmanship firsthand: three-dimensional modeling, advanced metalwork, even the inclusion of materials once deemed impossible, like denim. The collaboration feels like a reunion between two perfectionists chasing the same horizon where technology and art meet handwork and dream logic.
Each bag in the series becomes a portal into Murakami’s expanding cosmos. The Capucines EW Rainbow erupts into a prism of lacquered hues, distorting the bag’s classic silhouette into a euphoric display of color. The Mini Mushroom, with a hundred of his signature fungi hand-polished and embroidered on mirrored silver canvas, feels like a psychedelic garden you can carry. The Mini Tentacle, perhaps the most sculptural, transforms his alter ego Mr. DOB into a playful marine form a pink creature both charming and otherworldly. Then there’s the EW Dragon, a wearable echo of his monumental Dragon in Clouds Indigo Blue painting, and the Capucines BB Golden Garden, a symphony of leather marquetry and gold-leaf luminosity that nods to Vuitton’s heritage of refinement.
The most striking of all may be the Panda Clutch a silver-tone brass sculpture studded with 6,250 strass stones, bridging jewelry, sculpture, and collectible design. Together, these pieces read like a museum show masquerading as an accessories collection.
What distinguishes this collaboration is its mutual reinterpretation. “Without being fixated on my distinctive characters, Louis Vuitton incorporated motifs ranging from the classic to the majestic like the dragon,” Murakami notes. Vuitton’s artisans deconstruct his visual language his color fields, patterns, and creatures and reassemble them into handles, clasps, and inner linings. The result is not mere decoration but a synthesis: Murakami’s universe filtered through the disciplined choreography of French craftsmanship.
The 2025 Artycapucines collection isn’t just an expansion of Vuitton’s art dialogue it’s a statement on how luxury and imagination can coexist. It captures a moment where the atelier becomes an artist’s studio, and a handbag becomes a sculpture that breathes.
— Studio by Pines
