Originally launched in 2001, the Louis Vuitton Stephen Sprouse collection was a cross-collaborative effort between 1980’s fashion icon Stephen Sprouse and (then) young breakthrough designer Marc Jacobs.  Dressing pop icons such as Debbie Harris of Blondie fame, Duran Duran, Billy Idol, and Axl Rose, Marc Jacobs was named the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame fashion director in 1995. In 1997 he was donned fashion director of Louis Vuitton and Louis Vuitton handbags. Then you have Stephen Sprouse, who took most of his own inspiration from his own pop icon, Andy Warhol.  Bright colors, often day-glo, and inspired by the music scene at CBGB’s and other underground hangouts of the day, made Sprouse credited with bringing downtown street wear to uptown fashion couture. He is a fan of creating icon based designs such as Jim Morrison and Iggy Pop crucified.  He also worked with Keith Haring in 1995, no stranger to the bold and colorful.  So it was a perfectly natural progression that Jacobs would choose Sprouse to work with a few years later.

A long-time fan of Stephen Sprouse, the pair more than fulfilled the company’s expectations giving the traditional fabric a punk, retro ‘80’s feel, and in doing so completely changing the face of Louis Vuitton bags.   The Louis Vuitton Stephen Sprouse line was an instant hit.  Making a comeback in January of this year, the innovative Louis Vuitton Stephen Sprouse collection gives a fresh twist on the pre-released line by issuing it in new colors and with design tweaks, in order to pay homage to the passing of Stephen Sprouse in 2004, and the issue of his book and exhibition earlier this year.