Anyone who has attended an art fair knows that the clothes worn by the attendees can be as eye-catching as the artworks on display. Louis Vuitton's limited-edition Artycapucines handbag collection blurs that line even more with wearable art that pairs some of the world's greatest creatives with an iconic design; the latest group of handbags, reimagined by six global names with vastly different practises, will be released this fall.
With his hand-beaded take on the house's classic Capucines bag, named after the Paris street where Vuitton opened his first store in 1854, Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone makes the case for aristocratic absurdity. "I took two archetypal symbols from my work that I frequently use: the clown and the rainbow," Rondinone explains. His Artycapucines harlequin design alludes to his fascination with jesters, while the beading (which takes 100 hours and nearly 15,000 beads per bag) exemplifies the brand's exquisite craftsmanship.
Peter Marino, a New York architect, took a slightly more historical approach. "I noticed a mediaeval box during a visit to the 14th-century Scuola Grande San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice," he says. "I translated the box's straps and key into the Arty-capucines bag." He pays homage to the Italian coffer with 315 studs of varying sizes scattered across the body of the bag. The finishing touch is a slide-bolt closure that locks in place to secure the front flap.
Park Seo-Bo, a Korean artist, took a more literal approach, transferring the red stripes from one of his Écriture paintings directly onto his version of the Artycapucines. The texture of a 2016 work was transferred onto the surface of the bags with the help of his grandson, Park Jifan, using 3D rubber injection. Each Arty-capucines design is available in an edition of 200 and is sure to turn heads wherever it's spotted, with variations by Kennedy Yanko, Daniel Buren, and Amélie Bertrand.
