Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs exhibition at Le Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, next to the Louvre. Inaugurated in March 9th and opened until September 16th, this exhibition shows in a very revealing way the personality of two of the most important creators of the fashion industry. Mi Armario en Ruinas and Macarena Gea were also invited, we had a great time with Adriana from LV.

The exhibition is divided into two parts (first you make a tour through Louis Vuitton’s career, his suitcases and most iconic trunks, and then you go up to the second floor where you see Marc Jacob’s designs), and the contrast between both personalities is really strong. The change is surprising and unexpected, but at the same time, it’s not contradictory. The effect is great.

First, as you observe the evolution of the monogram and the damier in the luggage collections that Louis designed at the end of the XIXth century, you seem to be inside one of those rotating machines where photos passed really fast creating a movement effect (in fact they have one there) while a music box tingles. You wouldn’t be surprised if a horse carriage appeared out of nowhere, or a bellboy entered the room and asked you to take your luggage to the Titanic’s hold.

Then, when you take the stairs to the Marc Jacobs floor, it’s like entering a Tim Burton movie mixed with a Spongebob episode, the Lucy in the sky videoclip by The Beatles, a Keith Haring painting, or a scene filmed by Baz Luhrmann. It’s all craziness. Infinite reflections made with mirrors, movie clips in tens of screens, mannequins dressed as nurses with ambulance lights as head, a clock made of legs, mannequins with crocodile, ostrich or a goose head, the handbags displayed in a giant sweet box… It produces a kind of fear and fascination feeling at the same time. There’s a showcase for every artist collaboration Louis Vuitton has made in the last few years: Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, and Richard Prince.

Samantha Gainsbury and Joseph Bennet, escenographers of the exhibition, and Pamela Golbin, commissioner, worked together with the Louis Vuitton maison and Marc Jacobs’s experiences when translating the memories and characters into the installations. The result is amazing. If you have the chance of going to Paris, visit the exhibition, it is fantastic.

In case you can’t visit it, here you have the photographs I took. Hope they make you feel like you were there :)

Louis Vuitton

Marc Jacobs

This Marc Jacobs doll is so cool. The shoes were made specially by Prada, as well as the skirt, who was made in tiny size by Comme des Garçons.