PHOTO COURTESY OF LOUIS VUITTON
Louis Vuitton’s silk squares, or carré in French, have a rich history of collaborations. It began in 1987 when leading artists, Arman, Sandro Chia, Arata Isozaki, Sol LeWitt and James Rosenquist, expressed their talent on a carré in the maison’s The Silk Road project. Since then, the LV Art Silk Square has seen artful interpretations by Andrée Putman, César Baldaccini, Philippe Starck and others.
This brings us to the latest collection of scarves designed by another five contemporary artists. The creatives comprise German pixel-art collective, eBoy; Franco-Japanese-Spanish design duo Icinori; Italian artist and illustrator, Lorenzo Mattotti; French graphic novelist and illustrator, Nicolas de Crécy; and Swiss artist, Thomas Ott.
Each design in the LV Art Silk Square collection reinvents the iconic four-petal flower that graces the Louis Vuitton monogram. From a dreamlike Provençal landscape that offers an enchanting vision of the maison’s perfume heritage to a whimsical flower-studded labyrinth, the stunning works bring new perspective to the maison’s codes and heritage.
Measuring 90 cm by 90 cm, the carré itself is already a work of art. A meticulous construction process uses both traditional and cutting-edge techniques that allow the rich, lustrous colours to come through. Firstly, the artworks are transferred onto the finest white silk in multiple layers. The squares are then washed and dried, before their edges are hand-sewn using the time-honoured roulottage technique.
A harmonious blend of tradition and contemporary vision, the silk squares can be worn in a multitude of ways or framed to be admired always. Priced at SGD805 each, the latest LV Art Silk Square collection is now available online via the Louis Vuitton e-boutique.
