The iconic Frank Gehry-designed art museum Fondation Louis Vuitton—the imposing glass and steel structure housing Louis Vuitton’s art collection in Paris’s Bois de Boulogne park—was just the beginning for LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault and the famed architect. The pair has joined forces repeatedly since the structure’s inauguration in 2014, most recently at Art Basel Miami Beach 2023.
Capucines bags by Frank Gehry for Louis Vuitton.
The Frank Gehry x Louis Vuitton booth showcases, most notably, their joint limited-edition Capucines handbags. Each one combines Gehry’s eccentric designs with Louis Vuitton’s savoir-faire, such as the Capucines Mini Blossom with its glass-like resin petals inspired by perfume bottles; the Capucines MM Concrete Pockets with its screen-printed 3D cement effect, and a Capucines MM Floating Fish with leather marquetry inspired by the fish lamps at the Fondation.
Capucines bags by Frank Gehry for Louis Vuitton.
The capsule features not only Capucines bags, but also the skewed Twisted Box trunk, and an artful Bear With Us clutch from Gehry’s 2014 Bear with Us sculpture. Another highlight is the “A Tea Party for Louis” trunk, the architect’s distinctive creation for the “200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries” exhibition in 2022, celebrating Louis Vuitton’s 200th birthday. Based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the trunk is a collection of eight inventive figurines, each one a character from the book and the basis of an imaginary Frank Gehry building.
Frank Gehry’s work based on Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.’ Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton is no stranger to collaborating with artists. Since 1988, the brand has partnered with Sol LeWitt, James Rosenquist, Cesar, and Olafur Eliasson, curated exhibitions by Sophie Calle, Dan Flavin, Alberto Giacometti, and Gerhard Richter, and created innovative global art projects, such as the 2022 collaboration with Yayoi Kusama.
Louis Vuitton and Frank Gehry will be at Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami Beach Convention Center, from December 8–10, 2023.