Louis Vuitton and Murakami's Superflat First Love

Curious as to how the Murakami/Louis Vuitton relationship got started? Taking the partnership into a new medium, Murakami's new "Superflat First Love" video tells a quirky, cute, beautiful (and obviously metaphoric) tale of how the collaboration of the decade came to be. 

Richard Prince Wraps It Up In Hong Kong

Continuing their quest to be forever and always the fashion label associated with high art, Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs fave Richard Prince are at it again in Hong Kong, where Prince has wrapped the Hong Kong Museum of Art with enlarged replicas of pulp fiction novel covers. This is all to draw attention to the featured exhibit "Louis Vuitton: A Passion for Creation" that will be displayed inside the museum from May 22nd to August 9th as part of HK's annual French May Arts Festival. Expect to see pieces from the permanent collection of the Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création as well as featured works by Jeff Koons, Bertrand Lavier and, naturally, Stephen Sprouse. There's going to be a big fancy opening ceremony with all the LV all-stars there, including Marc Jacobs, Princ, Takashi Murakami, Frank Gehry and LVMH Moët Hennessy chariman Bernard Arnault all in attendance. Kanye West will probably show up too.

-- Seth Plattner

Quickies: Alexander McQueen Drops Runway, Murakami Invades Tokyo LV, +

Alexander McQueen is foregoing a traditional runway show for his S/S men's collection in favor of "something very special" his publicist says. [WWD]

The Louis Vuitton store in Tokyo got the full-force Murakami treatment, filled with his artwork and toys. He's promoting his Multicolor collection, and there's even an interesting promotional short. [Yeh Word!] 

Jesus Luz thinks he's the best thing in male modeling since briefs, charging almost $100,000 per appearance in Brazil. Other male models are on the defensive. [NYDN] 

Ed Westwick took Grazia's Fashion Quiz and faired slightly better than Chace Crawford. He is British, after all. [Grazia] 

Quickies: LV's Charity, Dsquared2 Hits the Airwaves, +

In honor of Earth Day tomorrow, Louis Vuitton is donating 15% of its U.S. Web site that day to The Climate Project, the nonprofit organization founded by Al Gore. [WWD]

Dsqaured2 duo Dan and Dean Caten are getting their own Sirius satellite radio show. They'll play music, past and present, as well as tracks from their runway show. Also expect celebrity interviews on fashion and pop culture. [WWD]

Anyone looking to hit the runway? Starting tomorrow Sean John begins his online modeling search, called Faces of the Future. The winner will be the face of the new fall Sean John men's collection. [WWD]

Lady GaGa is bigger than you. Donkey-sized, even. [My Fashion Life]

UPDATE: Kanye West's LV Campaign NOT for LV

                     

West debuted his Louis Vuitton sneakers during their F/W 09 runway show. Now, the world gets a closer look in the shoe's new ad campaign featuring -- who else -- Kanye himself. Also featured in the ad alongside Kanye and his kicks? Everyone's favorite arm candy, Amber Rose and...her ass. See the full campaign here. 

UPDATE: It turns out all these are not for an upcoming campaign. So what, prey tell, would he make Amber Rose show buttcrack for? A fashion spread? Shamless publicity? His own self-affirming collection of photography? 

via The Cut

-- Seth Plattner

Quickies: Jesus Might Join Madonna in LV, Zac Effron Shirtless +

Is Madonna's boy toy, Jesus Luz, joining her in the F/W Louis Vuitton campaign? Please make it so. [Made in Brazil] 

Sun-in and sandals with socks making a comeback? Is it 1997 up in here? [Times of London] and [Just Jared]

Look! Zac Efron shirtless in GQ! [DListed] 

Menswear indubitably inspires womenswear. Here's proof. [WWD]

Quickies: Madonna For LV Again, Project Runway Casting, +

According to Twitter, Madonna will again bend and stretch for Louis Vuitton's F/W 09 campaign, shot by Steven Meisel, uh again. [Fashionolgie] 

Even though we have no idea when the next season will air, hopeful designers can submit their portfolios for the next season of Project Runway. 

Is French ELLE starting a trend among fashion mags? In their most recent issue they're featuring stars without makeup (i.e. photoshopping). [Bust Blog] 

Topshop has been withholding entrance to their Soho flagship in order to draw more attention to the store. What's next, a guest list and celebrities? [NYP]

Puma and YSL are launching a men's sneaker, which will only be available in the U.S. on YSL's e-commerce site. [WWD]

Assistants at Vogue are pulling double duty as they fill in the void left by fired receptionists. Glamour, demystified. [FWD]

Quickies: Kanye West's Name Change, Buzz Armstrong for Louis Vuitton? +

Kanye West has changed his name to Martin Louis The King, Jr. Why, you ask? To embody Martin Luther King and his favorite fashion labe, Louis Vuitton. He demands everyone address him as such, but no one will. [Daily News] 

Sean Avery: hockey star, foul-mouthed, fiery-fisted, lover of Dries Van Noten. The New York Times profiles. [NYT]

Word is that Buzz Armstrong will be in the next Louis Vuitton campaign. He will pose alongside fellow astronaut Jim Lovell and Sally Ride. [WWD]

The cast of the Broadway revival of Hair, which opened Tuesday, got the Levi's treatment. Recognizing the impact the brand had on the style of the counterculture movement of the 60s, costume designer Michael McDonald has outfitted the entire cast in the label. [WWD]

Quickies: Marc Jacobs engaged! The Carine Roitfeld interview and more

Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone are engaged. [WWD]

Carine Roitfeld's interview with CNN is breaking airwaves and the internet. The juiciest bit? She says she sees herself with a new job in a year. What eve could she mean? [The Cut] 

Kenley of Project Runway is being charged with assault for attacking her ex-husband. Weapons at her disposal? "A cat, a laptop, several apples and finally...water." You can't knock her for being boring with her choices. [TMZ]

Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher is releasing his own clothing line. Called Pretty Green after a song by The Jam, the range will sell footwear, denim, knitwear, jackets, trench coats, parkas, t-shirts, hats, scarves and accessories, all assuredly infused with a signature booze-y smell. [Telegraph] 

Kanye West's Vuitton shoes will set you back $1,000. Or you could just buy some boat shoes and spray-paint them white or red, all for about $54.60. Your call.  [Style List]

Leggings for men? Who need those when you can have your own set of latex stockings with matching thong and garters? [The Frisky] 

Marc Jacobs and Stephen Sprouse: A History

Photo: Getty Images

As you may recall, a few weeks ago we posted a quote from Marc Jacobs in which he says of his collaboration with Stephen Sprouse: "I don't pretend to originate or create anything. I'm just here putting things together or re-putting things together and I like it that way -- it's fun." And now we are getting some elaboration on what went down between two of the most visionary designers of the last 20 years.

In an interview with The Guardian, Jacobs (pictured, wearing a pair of Sprouse leggings) opened up to reporter Sarah Mower on the night of the Stephen Sprouse opening at the Soho Louis Vuitton store about the history behind the Jacobs/Sprouse collaborations. Speaking about the obsession that was born in the punk-paced-partyland also known as New York City in the 80s, Jacobs says of his first taste of Sprouse:

"It was like a rock concert. Deafening hardcore rock. There were 25 men, really amazing boys standing on the runway, and then Teri Toye came out in a blonde wig pushing through them, throwing off her coat and slamming it on the runway. It was incredible decadence -- dark, punky, edgy. And the audience was downtown club-kids sitting next to Vogue and New York Times fashion editors. It was the first time that had happened in New York."

And in 2001, Jacobs and Sprouse released their first Vuitton collection -- an against-the-grain showing that turned Jacobs' own obsession into a shared craze among fashion fiends and artists alike:

"We broke all the rules that season. I had been told we were not allowed to change the monogram. I had been trying to follow the rules and do what everybody told me until it got to the point where I realized that's not why I was brought in here. I'm here to do something to make this young and cool and contemporary and of the moment. I wanted to use Stephen's graffiti specifically because it meant something to me. Stephen as an artist, Stephen as a New York figure. It had the credibility of street, but also this sort of style of somebody who was a fashion designer."

LV's latest collection showed no less restraint and no less demand, as pieces -- and skateboards specifically -- rapidly sold out. Jacobs, though, says not to worry. "There's plen-ty of it coming," he assures. Mowers, in the end, wonders how much the late Sprouse would enjoy being consumed by Jacobs' re-appropriative tendencies -- thendencies that some argue cheapens arts -- but, for now we're happy on the edge of our seats wondering what Jacobs will do next.

-- SETH PLATTNER