Long before designer collaborations were the norm, Louis Vuitton‘s then-creative director Marc Jacobs teamed up with Takashi Murakami to debut a line of handbags that would go down in fashion history. After discovering Murakami’s artwork at an exhibit at the Fondation Cartier in 2002, Jacobs approached the Japanese pop artist to reimagine Vuitton’s iconic monogram.
The label’s signature serif lettering dates back to 1896, when Georges Vuitton, son of founder Louis Vuitton, created the pattern with the intention of fending off counterfeiters. This didn’t exactly go according to plan: today, Vuitton handbags are still some of the most common fakes, and naturally, Murakami’s designs were knocked off far and wide.
After all, his Multicolore monogram and anime prints were touted by the likes of Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and even Regina George in “Mean Girls,” making the artist’s Louis Vuitton line an “It” girl staple. Murakami and Jacobs even parodied the counterfeit concept in 2008, staging Canal Street-inspired stalls — filled with only authentic merchandise — outside the Brooklyn Museum.
In honor of 2025’s Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami re-edition, which officially launches on Jan. 1, a look back at their legendary collaboration.
2002
Models on the runway during Louis Vuitton’s spring 2003 fashion show.
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami made its runway debut during the brand’s spring 2003 fashion show. Models carried Vuitton classics (the Papillon, the Speedy and the Keepall) featuring Murakami’s cartoonish Cherry Blossom print and Multicolore monogram, which consists of 33 colors emblazoned on white or black coated canvas. Variations of the pattern included the artist’s “Eye Love” design.
Jacobs and Murakami put a twist on Vuitton’s staple handbags, giving them bow accents, brass studs and feet, as well as extra pockets. They also introduced a new limited-edition handbag model, the Sac Retro PM.
2003
Following the release of the Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami collection, the collaboration generated over $300 million in one year.
“When we saw the first prototypes, we were all very excited,” Jacobs told WWD in 2003. “But the reach of it, we had no idea. I love that we’re involved in the creation of something that almost seems historic.”
By the early 2000s, Jennifer Lopez had become a household name thanks to her premiere album “On the 6,” that iconic Versace dress and appearances in hit rom-coms like “The Wedding Planner” and “Maid in Manhattan.”
Jennifer Lopez for Louis Vuitton.
Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott
Her relationship with actor Ben Affleck was also the talk of the tabloids, and in 2003, Lopez was tapped as the face of Louis Vuitton’s fall campaign. Lensed by acclaimed photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Lopez brandishes Murakami’s black Multicolore Dalmatian Sac Rabat — another one-of-a-kind Vuitton silhouette.
“I think she looks incredibly beautiful and sophisticated,” Jacobs said in a WWD interview. “After her hair and makeup, she just became that supermodel. It was an immediate switch into the role she was cast for.”
2004
In 2004, Murakami and Jacobs revealed their latest Vuitton drop. The artist’s vibrant anime Panda print appeared on a range of accessories including the Pochette, the Troutter and the Vavin PM.
That year, Naomi Campbell, a close friend of Jacobs, fronted another Mert and Marcus-photographed campaign featuring Murakami’s Multicolore. The supermodel lounged upon a white canvas trunk and carried a matching Theda bag in the house’s summer ads.
Lindsay Lohan in “Mean Girls.”
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection
“Mean Girls” became a pop culture phenomenon upon its release in 2004. The film’s titular clique, The Plastics, were North Shore High’s “fashion dictators,” per costume designer Mary Jane Fort, setting trends for the rest of their schoolmates.
Queen Bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams) carries a Louis Vuitton x Murakami Cherry Blossom handbag in the film’s first mall scene, with Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) eventually following suit: she touts a Multicolore Pochette after completing her Plastics transformation.
A model on the runway at the Louis Vuitton’s spring 2005 fashion show.
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
Louis Vuitton’s spring 2005 runway saw the release of a new Murakami print: Cerises. Translating to “cherries” in English, the artist’s anthropomorphic fruits decorated a selection of handbags, including the Speedy, Pochette, Keepall and Petit Bucket. Limited-edition designs, such as the Neo Deauville and Sac Fermoir, also featured lizard skin accents.
2005-2006
Model on the runway at Louis Vuitton’s spring 2006 fashion show.
Fairchild Archive
Jacobs and Murakami experimented with the Multicolore print even further in 2005, debuting new Speedy models featuring a rainbow of suede fringe, glass beads and crystallized pendants in the shape of Vuitton’s signature monogram stars and flowers — long before the bag charm trend took hold.
For the label’s fall 2006 collection, Jacobs released a Multicolore fur muff that doubled as a fanny pack. Featuring silver python zipper trim, the ultra-rare piece has been worn by Amber Rose and Kim Kardashian.
Following his appointment as creative director of Louis Vuitton menswear, Virgil Abloh reinterpreted this concept in 2021, dropping a white mink zip-up printed with a multicolored monogram: notably, this wasn’t a part of the Murakami collaboration, and thus doesn’t bear the Multicolore name.
A model on the runway at Louis Vuitton’s fall 2006 fashion show.
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
2007
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles staged a career retrospective of Murakami’s work in 2007, which included a selection of the artist’s Louis Vuitton designs. Bags were displayed in glass cases in front of coordinating Multicolore canvases, and a pop-up Vuitton boutique was installed in the gallery, a novelty for the French fashion house.
The Louis Vuitton boutique within MOCA’s Takashi Murakami exhibition, 2007.
Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
The fully functional store echoed Murakami’s high-low exploration of art’s relationship to consumerism, a theme consistent throughout his work. Although controversial within the art world, the notion of in-gallery shopping was seemingly prophesied by the father of pop art, Andy Warhol — a formative influence on Murakami — who once said that “all department stores would become museums and all museums would become department stores.”
Exclusive Murakami x Vuitton designs were released in honor of the exhibition, further blurring the lines between fashion and art. Titled Moca Hands, the limited-edition print depicted the brand’s LV initials in colorful camouflage, appended with smiling daisies and cartoon gloves. The logo was inscribed on monogrammed Neverfull totes and handheld trunks, with resale prices immediately soaring to a 50 percent premium.
Nicky Hilton carries a Moca Hands Neverfull in 2008.
WireImage
2008
Eva Herzigova and Marc Jacobs attend the gala opening of the Takashi Murakami retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum in 2008.
Fairchild Archive/Penske Media
In April 2008, Murakami’s retrospective landed at the Brooklyn Museum. Akin to MOMA’s exhibition, it featured a Louis Vuitton boutique inside, though its New York gala opening included a particularly tongue-in-cheek twist: in line with the brand’s mission to take down counterfeiters, Vuitton poked fun at Canal Street vendors by installing its own faux storefronts outside the museum — these stalls, however, were only stocked with authentic merchandise.
“We talked about what New York is famous or infamous for,” said Brooklyn Museum director Arnold Lehman in a WWD interview. “When both residents and visitors think of purchases here, there is so much today on the street in so many parts of the city, it’s become almost in a way identifiable with New York. It’s also such a visual manifestation of the [counterfeit] issue that Vuitton thought that this was an interesting way to characterize the problem.”
Monica wears a Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami Monogramouflage handbag and scarf in 2008.
WireImage
Following the Brooklyn Museum opening, a new line of Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami merchandise was launched. As its name implies, the Monogramouflage collection of luggage, handbags and other accessories saw Vuitton’s trademark lettering printed on a camo backdrop.
Louis Vuitton closed out another Murakami-fueled banner year by wrapping the facade of its New York flagship in his Multicolore monogram print. The holiday display included the addition of a Peter Marino-designed “Bag Bar” inside the boutique, which was the only one of its kind to feature moving parts.
“We wanted to do something that was festive and exceptional, but at the same time true to the brand,” Daniel Lalonde, president and chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton North America, told WWD at the time. “Throughout the past year we have collaborated with Takashi Murakami on a variety of projects and thought his Multicolore print, displaying the Louis Vuitton monogram in 33 cheerful colors, would be a perfect combination of tradition and excitement.”
Louis Vuitton’s New York flagship holiday display, 2008.
WireImage
2015
Louis Vuitton officially discontinued its collaboration with Murakami in 2015. Following Jacobs’ departure from the label in 2014, he was succeeded by creative director Nicolas Ghesquière. At the time, Vuitton representatives told WWD that they declined to comment on the collection’s termination, noting that the brand prefers to “look forward.”
2025
To date, Murakami is Louis Vuitton’s longest-standing collaborator, a tradition that will continue in 2025. The French fashion house announced the upcoming collection, which officially launches on Jan. 1, earlier this month.
Pieces from the Louis Vuitton x Murakami re-edition include new iterations of their bestselling Multicolore monogram handbags, as well as accessories like scarves, belts, headbands and skateboards. The Multicolore monogram also decorates newer Vuitton handbag models, the Capucines and the Coussin.
Other fan favorite prints will be revived in additional drops of the Louis Vuitton x Murakami re-edition, including the artist’s kawaii Panda, Cerises and Cherry Blossom patterns.
