Louis Vuitton Artycapucines: Where Contemporary Art Meets Craftsmanship

When contemporary artists reinterpret a familiar object, the result can reveal as much about their own creative practice as it does about the object itself. For Louis Vuitton, this exchange is at the heart of Artycapucines, a project that invites artists to transform the House’s Capucines handbag through their individual artistic languages.

At Art Basel Paris 2026, the French Maison presents a retrospective on the Balcon d’Honneur of the Grand Palais, pairing the resulting bags with works by their creators. Since its debut in 2019, Artycapucines has explored the intersection of artistic expression and leather goods craftsmanship, bringing painting, assemblage, portraiture and sculpture into dialogue with a recognisable handbag silhouette.

Artistic Interpretations

The range of interpretations reflects the diversity of contemporary art itself. Urs Fischer’s Fruits (2026), for instance, finds a playful counterpart in his Artycapucines design, which features a suspended banana. Tschabalala Self’s Kitten (2026), combining painted and textile elements, echoes the layered composition of her bag, while Sam Falls’s botanical imagery finds expression in a design informed by his engagement with nature.

Elsewhere, Kennedy Yanko’s metal-and-paint-skin work Because of its blues (2025) explores sculptural form, while Liza Lou’s Lost Blue (2022), composed of painted glass beads, demonstrates the intricate possibilities of repetition and handwork. Presented alongside their corresponding designs, these works offer a closer look at how artistic ideas can be translated into a different medium.

The retrospective’s scenography reinforces this relationship between art and making. Open crates, plinths and trunk-like structures in brushed aluminium and cotton canvas evoke the storage and transportation of precious objects, while referencing Louis Vuitton’s origins as a packer and trunk-maker.

The presentation also revisits the House’s longstanding relationships with artists Takashi Murakami, Yayoi Kusama and Frank Gehry, whose distinctive approaches to colour, form and sculpture have informed their collaborations with the Maison.

The Craft of Collaboration

A new Artycapucines collection dedicated to Keith Haring introduces another chapter in the project. Featuring the late American artist’s recognisable figures, dancers, running hearts and graphic symbols, the collection is displayed alongside a Louis Vuitton suitcase from the 1930s that Haring signed in the 1980s.

Louis Vuitton’s engagement with artists dates back to its 1920 collaboration with Pierre Legrain. Artycapucines continues that history through an ongoing exchange between artistic imagination and specialised craftsmanship.

Rather than treating the handbag as a blank canvas, the project uses its established form as a point of departure. The resulting pieces demonstrate how an object associated with function and design can become a vehicle for individual artistic expression, without losing sight of the material knowledge and craftsmanship required to realise it.