Louis Vuitton regularly collaborates with contemporary artists and proposes limited-edition collections. The street marketing operation was among the best in the last 20 years. I have already talked on this blog about the collaboration with Jef Koons and the spectacular windows created on this occasion. More recently, the collaboration with Yayoi Kusama gave rise to spectacular installations in Paris. But what are Louis Vuitton’s likely next collaborations, and what will the brand’s future products look like? To figure it out, I used generative AI.
Let me know which bag you like best in the comments!
How to use ChatGPT and MidJourney to invent the products of the future?
To invent the future Louis Vuitton bags, I combined 2 tools:
- ChatGPT to select contemporary artists and describe the Louis Vuitton bag resulting from this collaboration
- MidJourney to bring this bag to life
You have to proceed step by step to get the best results.
Step 1: find artists to collaborate with Louis Vuitton
ChatGPT, equipped in its free version with GPT3.5, allows suggesting contemporary artists who could collaborate with Louis Vuitton. The list it suggested was quite relevant:
- Yayoi Kusama
- Banksy
- Olafur Eliasson
- Kara Walker
- Ai Weiwei
- Takashi Murakami
- Anis Kapoor
- Rachel Whiteread
Yayoi Kusama already collaborates with Louis Vuitton, and this collaboration is currently being celebrated in Paris. This ChatGPT could not know because its training data ended in November 2021.
Step 2: describe the style of each artist
I then asked it to describe the style of each artist. This helps establish some distinctive elements that can be used in the bag’s description.
Step 3: describe the bag
To finish the work on ChatGPT, I asked it to describe the bag resulting from the imaginary collaboration with the artist.
Step 4: designing the bag with MidJourney
The final step was to bring the bag to life with MidJourney v5. Before v5 was available, I had already tried to create a product with v4. The v5 gives an almost photographic quality that is much more convincing. You can judge for yourself below.
MidJourney proposes 4 images each time. In the paragraphs below, I have kept only the most convincing, i.e., the most realistic one with the least defects. Often, incongruous elements were visible at the level of the object itself or the Louis Vuitton monogram.
Louis Vuitton and Banksy
When I started my Vuitton bag creation project with Midjourney, the first collaboration that came to mind was with Banksy. You must admit it would be an event… a collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Banksy. It would be a stroke of marketing genius, but there’s little chance it would actually happen.
This is what the impossible looks like.
Louis Vuitton and Olafur Eliasson
Olafur Eliasson is an Icelandic-Danish artist. His work explores the effects of light and the use of technology.
ChatGPT proposed the following description of a bag designed by Olafur Eliasson for Louis Vuitton:
A Louis Vuitton bag designed in collaboration with Olafur Eliasson may incorporate innovative materials and technologies, such as a light-sensitive fabric or reflective surfaces. The bag can also feature elements inspired by Eliasson’s installations, such as iridescent colors or geometric shapes.
Here is the result. I don’t know how to do it in real life, but you must admit it is beautiful.
Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami
The Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is very inspired by cartoons and traditional culture. He became famous for his flower sculptures.
The description of the bag created by Takashi Murakami in collaboration with Louis Vuitton was the following:
A Louis Vuitton bag designed with Takashi Murakami could incorporate his signature style with bright colors and whimsical characters. The bag could also include playful elements such as cartoonish animal shapes or floral patterns inspired by Murakami’s famous flower sculptures.
The result is spectacular and fits with Takashi Murakami’s lively style. I can see this bag being produced in a limited edition and becoming an instant collector’s item.
Louis Vuitton and Kara Walker
American artist Kara Walker works on silhouettes and plays with contrasts. The description proposed by ChatGPT was as follows:
A Louis Vuitton bag designed with Kara Walker could incorporate her signature cutout style, perhaps with a laser-cut pattern that evokes her work’s intricate and layered nature. The bag may also feature symbolic patterns and messages that explore themes of identity and power.
The play of light is particularly interesting, especially how the Louis Vuitton monograms show through.
Louis Vuitton and Ai Weiwei
Who doesn’t know the artist Ai Weiwei? This Chinese activist is one of the darlings of contemporary art. The proposed description of his creation for Louis Vuitton was as follows:
A Louis Vuitton bag designed in collaboration with Ai Weiwei could incorporate his political and social themes with text or images that draw attention to human rights issues. The bag could also incorporate unconventional materials or shapes, such as recycled materials or abstract shapes inspired by Weiwei’s sculptures.
Louis Vuitton and Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor is known for his monumental sculptures, all round and metallic.
Here is the description that was proposed for a bag created for Louis Vuitton:
A Louis Vuitton bag designed by Anish Kapoor could incorporate his minimalist aesthetic with bold sculptural forms and unexpected materials such as mirrored surfaces or textured fabrics. The bag could also explore themes of reflection and perception, such as hidden compartments or subtle optical illusions.
The roundness of the forms corresponds well with Anish Kapoor’s work, as does the treatment of the surfaces.
Louis Vuitton and Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread’s art is centered around the notion of full and empty. This duality is very present in her sculptures. We find this concept in the description that ChatGPT gives of a bag created by this artist for Louis Vuitton:
A Louis Vuitton bag designed with Rachel Whiteread could explore negative space, perhaps with cutouts or perforations that create an unexpected pattern or texture. The bag could also incorporate Whiteread’s interest in daily objects, using unexpected materials such as plaster or concrete to create a unique texture.
And this is the result, which will never see the light of day.
Posted in Innovation.