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Takashi Murakami at Galerie Perrotin-Hong Kong, May 2013.
Takashi Murakami is celebrated for founding the Superflat conceptual approach in contemporary art. His memorable style bonds the worlds of high and low culture: cartoonish anime figures and brightly colored flowers mashed up with two-dimensional methodologies of more traditional Japanese art. His self-portraits may feature him wearing skater shorts, baggy T-shirts, and sandals, his hair tied in a ponytail. And invariably his distinctive glasses: thin wire-frame circles, elegant and exactly right for the larger-than-life, otherworldly, contemporary character he is. In Murakami’s first clothing project, he worked with Naoki Takizawa at Issey Miyake, using his striking imagery of jellyfish eyes on hooded parka coats and men’s trousers in the spring/summer 2000 collection. Later, in 2003, Murakami embarked on a collaboration with Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton that lasted thirteen years and included a range of leather goods embellished with the famous LV logo in shades like baby pink and sky blue. His Multicolore, Monogramouflage, Cherry Blossom, and Character handbags were well received, opening the door for subsequent fashion partnerships—including a skateboard with Supreme and, in 2017, a hand-printed T-shirt with Virgil Abloh’s Off-White label.