July 15, 2025 |
Japan has long held impressive credentials when it comes to cultural influence. The birthplace of tastemakers like Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake, as well as street style bibles like Fruits, cherished artists like Yayoi Kusama and beloved film genres like Anime, Japan’s ability to conjure impactful players creative spheres is one of the most robust in the world. Zooming in on the luxury sphere specifically, this influence doesn’t appear to wane, and Louis Vuitton has decided it’s about due time to pay appropriate homage.
Opening today at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka, the exhibition entitled Louis Vuitton: Visionary Journeys is spotlighting the French house’s longstanding connection to Japan and its cultural output. Emphasising this mutual exchange of ideas, the display coincides with the start of the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, a forward-thinking showcase that spotlights innovation and design from around the globe, as well as 170 years since the founding of LV. In doing so, the exhibition aligns itself with the most muscular displays of cultural conversation in action, emphasising the significance of the relationship to the brand’s development into a global powerhouse.
The 12-room scenography that awaits inside, designed by Japanese architect Shohei Shigematsu, exploring each chapter in this ever-enduring story, drives that message home. Upon entering, visitors are greeted with two Trunkscapes (installations comprising of stacked, illuminated trunks) designed by Shigematsu that highlight the significance of the piece to the house’s history. After that, visitors can move through sections like Asnières and Origins, which highlight pieces from the LV archive which show how its recognisable codes, such as the monogram, came into development, before starting to serve up the role Japan played in the mix. Featuring examples of the house’s early Japonisme inspirations, the exhibition culminates in a room dubbed Collaborations, with the most recognisable link-ups, courtesy of Yayoi Kusama, Takashi Murakami and Nigo getting their moment to shine. Each takes form as an immersive experience where visitors can enter 360-degree domes with kaleidoscopic walls to see key pieces from each partnership displayed all around them. Also on display are bespoke trunks created by artist and house ambassador Sho Hirano as well as Verdy, a designer local to Osaka.
For those who wish to go that extra step, the gift shop will also be offering an exclusive publication from Rizzoli Editions, aptly titled Louis Vuitton Japan, that will be available to purchase from the Nakanoshima gift store as well as in Rizzoli and Louis Vuitton retail spaces. A deep dive into one of fashion’s most enduring partnerships, both the exhibition and book are stuffed with joyful examples of innovation spawned from one of fashion’s longest standing romances that will be delicious to digest. Discover more here.
Photography courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
