Louis Vuitton x Sotheby’s, plus Mschf's unofficial bag: Collector's collabs

Whether consumers are art collectors or wanting to cherish a limited edition item, products can become even more exclusive when co-created by two married cultural capitals. This week’s global brand collaboration spotlights welcome you into the world of collectors, from Louis Vuitton and Sotheby’s charity auction to artistically celebrate ten years of the Capucines bag, to Indiana Jones and London's luxury leather goods brand Métier working on a Collectors Edition line of pieces crafted from fabrics that featured in the official movies. For our verdict on those, read on, and subscribe here to receive these updates to your inbox via the Collabs & Drops newsletter every Tuesday. Louis Vuitton x Sotheby’s Date July 28 to July 12 Product Public charity auction selling 22 unique artist-designed Artycapucines bags by Louis Vuitton. Social context Louis Vuitton hasn't posted about this to its 53.4million followers, likely as Pharrell Williams' menswear debut show is taking priority right now. Verdict Louis Vuitton’s Capucines bag was launched in 2013, making it one of the brand’s more contemporary designs — some date back to the 1930s. Collaborating with artists on a prestigious Sotheby’s auction therefore fuels the style with cultural capital. Every Capucines has been signed by each artist under the flap, and will also be exhibited as part of a public exhibition in Sotheby’s Paris headquarters, positioning them as art pieces. The fact that each one is also presented in the Boîte Chapeu modern hat box which was first launched in 1924 also connects the Capucines to Louis Vuitton’s expansive history, enhancing the worth of each bag. Luxury fashion brands are only truly able to enter the art world with the assistance of artists, yet to do so with prestige, it helps to reference cultural history like the French house has done with this collaboration. Mschf x Louis Vuitton [unofficial] Date June 22 to 24 Product Microscopic Handbag made from neon-green photopolymer resin (approx. 657 by 222 by 700 micrometers) Social context Mschf currently has 687,000 followers on Instagram, and the official post about its Louis Vuitton bag has 80,900 likes which is meteorically higher than its previous two announcements (22,700 and 11,800 respectively). Verdict Despite the tongue-in-cheek collective Mschf apparently not gaining official permission from Louis Vuitton for this collaboration, it was created for the “Just Phriends” auction sale curated for the luxury house’s new menswear creative director Pharrell Williams’ Joopiter auction house. Joopiter did remove the photo of this collab once uploaded, though. Like all of Mschf’s releases, the Microscopic bag spurs social introspection. How useful are the constant luxury releases? The project reflects how the meaning of fashion now fully lies in its cultural prestige and connotations. Pre-mounted underneath a microscope, this design needs a tool to even acknowledge its beauty — conceptual fashion is not something that can be understood by the naked eye, perhaps. If a handbag cannot actually provide the singular utility that it should, we are forced to be confronted with the other meanings that it spurs. Gabriel, co-founder of Mschf, told Collabs & Drops in an interview back in 2021, “Our success comes from the conceptual power of our work, not the endorsements they carry. Brands are just another medium for our work.” Indiana Jones x Métier Date June 30 Product The Collector's Edition collection (Vagabond Duggle, Vagabond Messenger, and Runaway bags) and the main collection featuring Hunter Messenger, Vagabond Duffle, Vagabond Messenger, Runaway, and Basket bags, as well as leather goods such as a travel wallet and notebook cover. Social context There are eight posts on the Métier Instagram about this project, posted to the brand’s 35,900 followers. Verdict The collision of Métier co-founder and creative director Melissa Morris, and Academy Award-nominated English costume designer Joanna Johnston who has worked on the Indiana Jones franchise since 1984, this is premium movie merchandise. In celebration of the new movie The Dial of Destiny, the collectors collection boosts the cultural esteem of the more accessible line. Métier is able to benefit from the mainstream fandom of such a huge blockbuster, while Indiana Jones has the opportunity to create luxury fashion merchandise to fuel its cultural reputation. It’s rare to have a costume designer actually design products for release, but it has made each piece that little more connected to the actual movie, as though they are props. Furthermore, the Collector's Edition is created with actual fabrics from the movie, so people are able to own a part of it.

Louis Vuitton x Sotheby’s, plus Mschf's unofficial bag: Collector's collabs

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Published June 24, 2023

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Louis Vuitton x Sotheby’s, plus Mschf's unofficial bag: Collector's collabs