CARRYING ART

The current edition of Louis Vuitton’s Artycapucines’ outdoes itself yet again, offering six celebrated artists’ oeuvres as handbags, Sonali Shah reports

- Sonali Shah

It's here-the first glow-in-the-dark LV Capucines bag, thanks to the whimsical art sensibilities of French artist Amélie Bertrand.

Seeking inspiration from the atmosphere of summer nightlife, Bertrand has happily gone to town, as have five other artists in their signature styles. Louis Vuitton's celebration of art on its classic Capucines handbag is back in its fourth edition, offering Capucines as a canvas to six artists. And in their inimitable styles, they have nurtured new life to the bags. Artists Amelie Bertrand, Daniel Buren, Ugo Rondinone, Peter Marino, Park Seo-Bo and Kennedy Yanko have stamped their compelling creatives on Capucines.

ALL AGLOW

Bertrand applies her characteristic iridescence, shadows, and the tropics to Capucines, resulting in a completely different yet comforting avatar of the timeless bag. She dazzles us with her signature hallucinatory images-brightly coloured leitmotifs of chains, camouflage, tiles and tropical plants. The distinguishing feature, though, is the bag's aptitude to glow in the dark. Thanks to an innovative pigment treatment, Bertrand's entire Artycapucines radiates a warm phosphorescent, from the resin handle to the studs on the base, including the stitching on the shoulder strap.