Madonna and Steven Meisel have a long history of working together, from her Material Girl days to her Sex book and the word on the street is that they worked together again recently to shoot the Spring 2009 Louis Vuitton ad campaign.  LV ads are always beautiful and it’s been a minute since they’ve had a celebrity face so I’m interested to see what these are going to turn out like.  I wonder if they made Madonna a custom little red bracelet . . .

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Louis Vuitton usually wraps it’s Maisons across the globe when they are undergoing renovation, but this holiday season, the NYC flagship will be wrapped in Takashi Murakami’s Monogram Multicolore. The vinyl covering, will only be on the NY flagship and it’s signed by the artist himself. I can’t wait to get to NY for the holidays so I can see this for myself! I want a little piece to wallpaper my walls- ha! That’s not all the NY store on 57th Street has in store. A few months back they installed a “Bag Bar” complete with plush stools so you can sit as you peruse through jewelry and bags. Leave it to Louis Vuitton to elevate the shopping experience to new heights of luxury. Check out the “Bag Bar” after the jump.

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We’ve been hearing a lot about counterfeit raids and busts and some of the cases have gone through to trial.  On October 3rd, Judge Hellerstein awarded Louis Vuitton $3 million in statutory damages related to the “sale of handbags that counterfeited and infringed upon Louis Vuitton’s trademarks.”  Hopefully that’ll mean we’ll see less of those awful fake bags!

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Luxury brands have had a long-standing relationship with the arts whether its Louis Vuitton debuting goods designed by Takashi Murakami in a museum (LA & Brooklyn), or Chanel’s Mobile Art Pavillion designed by Zaha Hadid. Prada has always shown an interest in architecture - their boutiques are designed by leading architects and are often works of art themselves. Prada is taking its interest one step further by commissioning Rem Koolhaas to design a tetrahedron structure that will host cultural, art and fashion events that Prada organizes.

The Transformer can be rotated on each side depending on the event, with four different facades and floor plate configurations, so that floors become walls and walls become the ceiling. Each of the four programs will function on unique steel-framed shapes: a hexagon, a cross, a rectangle and a circle.

The transformer will debut in Seoul, Korea next year and will host events from March to July 2009. This is quite an amazing project and I hope that the Transformer makes it’s way stateside.

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Louis Vuitton recently released their latest costume jewelry collection called 1001 Nuits, or 1001 Nights. All the pieces are made of brass with Swarovski crystals. I’m assuming that the collection is inspired by the famous Persian tale, 1001 Nights, where Queen Scheherezade, in order to stave off her death, weaves a long tale that lasts 1001 nights. The colors are a bright array of pinks, reds and oranges and are beautifully offset by the golden brass hardware. The collection is lovely and includes a bracelet (my favorite!), earrings, ring, necklace, brooch and hair barrette. All of the items are available for purchase online.

Eve is launching her clothing line, Fetish, for the fourth time this coming holiday season.  The company has switched partners a few times and suffered production and delivery set-backs, but this time it seems like things are good to go.  Fetish has a new designer on board, Arnold Williams, who has worked with Versace, Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Narciso Rodriguez and John Varvatos.

The new Fetish line is a contemporary collection with a denim focus that includes leather jackets, oversize cozy sweaters, high-waisted denim jeans and skirts, leather pants, wool shorts, subtly logo t-shirts among other items.  The line will approximately range between $150 for denim to $1,500 for leather outerwear.

The line launches for holiday and can be found at Macy’s, Up Against the Wall, Against All Odds,  Jimmy Jazz and on the Fetish site. I don’t know about you, but I think Eve should put her dreams of being a “fashion designer” aside.  I’m not seeing anything new here and I can’t tell the difference between this and Baby Phat and Rocawear.  It all looks the same to me.  I’ve been over the “celebrity designer” game for well over a minute and I think that market is beyond over-saturated.  What do you think?  Is there more room for yet another celebrity clothing line?

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More pics after the jump . . .

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Oh, the things I would buy this upcoming season if I had a bottom-less wallet! The Gucci Hysteria collection has so many amazing accessories - complete with a knight in shining armor. I can never get tired of the Gucci logo canvas but Frida Giannini has definitely stepped up the game with lots of new touches like punk-like studs and exotic animal skins. Then of course, there’s the fun stuff. Who doesn’t need a Gucci swiss army knife? And the beanie! I have a similar Louis Vuitton one but I’m a sucker for all things black with a green and red stripe. Lastly, the over-the-knee boots are amazing - very high but not at all stripper-like. Although, for me to be able to rock those boots, I’d have to call this post, “If I Was A Tall & Rich Girl.” Ah, sigh. The grass is always greener, right? Check out more of my favorites after the jump and the Gucci Hysteria Collection Video featuring Lily Donaldson (with a dope song called Blue Jeans by Ladytron).

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A few weeks back we told you about a newly announced collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Comme des Garçons. Nitrolicious gave us a sneak peak at the line and I must admit, I was a bit disappointed. I think I was expecting more from Rei Kawakubo. Her design is so unique and always takes me by surprise and I felt that the pieces were either boring or ugly or a combination of both. I know! So weird! I love LV but I’m just not feeling this. My favorite is the multi-handle speedy because I feel like I can see the CDG personality show through - somewhat playful, irreverant and unique.

The other pieces are a bit boring. Look, see what I mean:

These are bags from the regular Louis Vuitton collection:

Here is the Louis Vuitton x Comme des Garçons version:

Really? The thing that makes these bags so uniquely LV x CDG is that Rei Kawakubo took off the tan leather trim? You added darker trim so it already looks old? Not sure if it’s just me but one of the extreme pleasures I get in buying new LV bags is watching the light tan leather get darker with age. I was expecting so much more!! This is in no way hate for LV. I love LV so I suppose I hold them to a very high standard - and I feel like this collaboration falls short.

Photos by Jean-Marc CeÌ?dile and Philippe Jumin for Louis Vuitton via Nitrolicious

Some more boring bags after the jump . . .

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Swiss artist, Sylvie Fleury, is no stranger to fashion. In 2000 she sculpted a “two-foot-long silver-plated version of the Louis Vuitton Keepall” and she recently designed a giant Chanel compact for the Chanel Mobile Art Museum. For her latest project, Dom Pérignon Rosé commissioned Ms. Fleury to design a product, called Stolen Kisses, that was as whimsical and flirty as the bubbly.  Her inspiration for Stolen Kisses?  Lipstick stains on a glass.  The project features a a gift box filled with a set of 2 champagne glasses with permanent lipstick marks and a bottle of Dom Pérignon Rosé, of course.  Each gift box is signed by the artist and production is limited to 999 sets.  Stolen Kisses release in November and retail for $600.  I love this set.  I think the idea is so cute - usually lipstick stains annoy me, but the idea of permanent lipstick kisses on the glass makes me want this a set of this unique and clever project.  What better way to sip your Dom Pérignon Rosé than with arty glassware?

For more info and to see some shots of the launch event, check out a video here.

Info: FWD

Two of my favorite brands, Louis Vuitton and Comme des Garçons, are teaming up to open a joint retail space in Tokyo. The store will be open for 3 months, and marks Louis Vuitton’s 30th anniversary of its retail presence in Tokyo. The Comme des Garçons store on Kottodori is being remodeled with Louis Vuitton contributing to the expense and with the profits shared among the two companies. For the pop-up shop, Rei Kawakubo designed six “one-off” bags in the LV monogram pattern, and can be ordered by shoppers.

Kawakubo described her designs as ‘party’ bags, promising multi-handles or two handles morphing into one. All will use the Monogram toile, with the LV initials, and the offerings will hark back to the styles of 30 years when Vuitton made only bags and leather goods.

This is one of the most exciting collaborations and I’m very excited to see how these compaines join to create one retail space. We’ll have to wait until September to see!

Image & Info: The Moment