Five years ago, Louis Vuitton invited six artists—Nicholas Hlobo, Sam Falls, Tschabalala Self, Alex Israel, Jonas Wood, and Urs Fischer—to go wild on the Capucines. First released in 2013, the bag was named after the Rue des Capucines, a street in Paris that welcomed Louis Vuitton’s first store back in 1854.
Dubbed the ArtyCapucines collection, the bags were whimsical works of art and became instant hits. The response was so incredible that Louis Vuitton tapped on another group of artists the following year, and the year after that. Now, it has become almost hallowed tradition.
This year, Louis Vuitton approached five leading contemporary artists—Billie Zangewa, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Liza Lou, Tursic & Mille, and Wang Ziping—to give their own spins on the ArtyCapucines.
Billie Zengewa
The South Africa-based artist recreated her 2020 work The Swimming Lesson onto the bag via a combination of high-definition, trompe-l’oeil printing, expressive embroidery, and intentionally visible hand-stitching.
Ewa Juszkiewicz
The Polish surrealist painter transferred her 2021 painting Ginger Locks using a high-definition print, which was accompanied with golden pearls.
Liza Lou
The American artist is well-known for using beads in large-scale sculptures and smaller artworks. She created a subtle and beautifully textured bead work embossed onto soft leather, before printing it in pastel colours, then draping it on the Capucines bag like a second skin.
Tursic & Mille
The Franco-Serbian duo reinvented the exterior into the shape of a flower. Then, they used it as a frame to reinterpret their 2021 painting Tenderness with rich colours and embroidery. They completed the bag with a charred cedar wood handle and an inlaid Louis Vuitton logo.
Wang Ziping
It might be the smallest bag in the collection, but it has a lot of attitude. Wang’s mini Artycapucines is a kaleidoscope of bright colours and sweet motifs, created using leather patchwork and marquetry.
