Louis Vuitton Turns Haring-Painted Suitcase Into 13-Bag Collection
Louis Vuitton, the French luxury house, will put Keith Haring's street-style drawings on 13 handbags in a partnership with the Keith Haring Foundation, the body that looks after the late American artist's work. The limited run sits inside Artycapucines, the house's annual series of Capucines bags customised by artists. It will roll out worldwide from Jan. 1, as reported by WWD.
The project starts from a real object. In the 1980s Haring drew his crawling Radiant Baby motif on a Louis Vuitton suitcase. Nicolas Ghesquière, the house's artistic director of womenswear, opened its cruise 2027 show — the between-seasons range shown outside the main calendar — in New York City in May with a model carrying that vintage case.
The May show took place at the Frick Collection, the art museum on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Actors Zendaya and Chase Infiniti sat in the front row, as reported by Hypebae. Louis Vuitton later described the show as a graphic tribute to Haring that mixed his fluid lines and bright colour with its own heritage codes.
That idea now carries into product. The old suitcase was scanned and digitally printed on two pieces: the Capucines MM Genesis handbag and a mini attaché case with a shoulder strap called the Valisette Genesis. Other designs include the Capucines East-West Mini Maze, Capucines Mini Figures, Capucines BB Figures and Capucines Mini Symbols.
Craft varies by bag. Some use leather marquetry, inlaid pieces of coloured leather that form a picture, while others use laser printing. The Capucines BB Holiday reworks a dolphin-and-human drawing in pinks and blues in calfskin inlaid with ostrich and karung leather.
Two evening pieces lean into spectacle. Haring's 1984 Running Heart appears on a clutch covered in more than 12,000 crystals. His Statue of Liberty and Big Apple motifs sit on a minaudière, a small hard evening case, shaped like a takeout noodle box. That box bag appeared as look 17 at the Frick show.
For fans, this means a short wait for a first look. Louis Vuitton will preview some of the Haring bags at Art Basel Paris alongside Artycapucines bags from past years. The fair space opens to the public from Oct. 23.
The high-end bags will then go on sale in selected Louis Vuitton stores. They will sit beside a wider Haring-inspired collection of ready-to-wear — factory-made clothes — plus leather goods and accessories, to be unveiled later this year.
What makes this stand out is the loop from archive to runway to shop. A one-off painting from the 1980s opened a 2027 show. Now it returns as a printed bag.
