By now, you’ve probably heard, read, and seen that the collab between Louis Vuitton and Haruki Murakami is back on. As the fashion cycle brings us back trends from the 2000s, this truly remarkable pairing is sure to fulfill a lot of people’s fantasies: it’s kawaii, playful, vibrant, and versatile. And if you’ve been on social media this past weekend, I’m sure you’ve seen that Zendaya is starring in the campaign. In case you haven’t, we came to the (fashion) rescue!
In a video published over the weekend, the Maison finally gave us the first hints of the collaboration. We see Murakami with a flip phone (very 2000s coded) in a traditional Japanese restaurant finishing a message, which he then sends to New York City. The envelope enters a tunnel covered in the iconic white monogram with colourful letters and flowers, which is an instantly recognisable symbol of the first pairing. In NYC, it’s the Maison Ambassador, Zendaya, dressed in a cute little backpack and bold braids, who receives the flip phone with a personal message from Haruki.
If you grew up in the 2000s, this white monogram with colourful letters sure rings a bell — it’s ‘always’ been there, sort of. But the truth is that the pairing between Louis Vuitton and Haruki Murakami first debuted in the Maison’s Spring/Summer 2003 runway show in Paris. It was with Marc Jacobs at the helm (from 1997 to 2013) that Louis Vuitton released some of the most beloved collaborations of all time. Surely, Takashi Murakami’s was pretty fruitful — from its debut in 2003, the two powerhouses continued to join forces until the summer of 2015, with an incredible range of bags (the Alma, the Papillon, the Speedy), clothes, and accessories that marked an era in fashion.
