Launch of Louis Vuitton’s Stephen Sprouse collection

To celebrate the launch of Louis Vuitton’s Stephen Sprouse
collection, Louis Vuitton will be doing several things which includes
redecorating New York’s SoHo Louis Vuitton store, releasing a series of
limited edition items as well as hosting cocktail parties at their
flagship store.

NEW YORK — Like the artist and designer who
inspired the new collection, Louis Vuitton is heading downtown for its
new Stephen Sprouse collection.

This week, the company’s boutique on SoHo’s Greene Street will be
transformed into a Sprouse destination in time for the collection’s
arrival.

“SoHo is a special place for the entire launch of the Sprouse
collection,” said Daniel Lalonde, Louis Vuitton North America president
and chief executive officer. “It’s in the proximity of where Stephen
Sprouse hung out, so we are going to give the entire store a Stephen
Sprouse feel. It will have a lot of reminders of Stephen Sprouse. We
will be giving it a new identity.”

For instance, the company is wrapping the store in vinyl and spray
painting neon graffiti all over the facade. The window display will
feature a 6-foot neon light installation in Sprouse’s Rose motif. The
store’s interior, enhanced with black brick wall facing, will also be
sprayed with the neon graffiti.

The collection will launch in its entirety at the SoHo boutique on
Thursday. The complete worldwide launch will follow on Feb. 2, though
the Rose pieces will be available at Louis Vuitton stores worldwide
starting Friday.

For the launch, the luxury goods company is also creating two
limited edition pieces, which will only be available at the SoHo
location: a Stephen Sprouse graffiti skateboard replete with a hard
case monogram skateboard trunk, and a Stephen Sprouse “Roses” T-shirt.
The company hopes to sell three graffiti skateboards with trunks for
$8,250 each, and 70 T-shirts for $250 each. “I don’t expect them to
last very long,” Lalonde said. “By Friday, there probably won’t be any
more left.”

Proceeds will benefit Free Arts NYC, which provides underserved
children throughout New York City with special arts programs. Vuitton
is also making an undisclosed donation to the Sprouse Estate, as well
as the Stephen Sprouse Memorial Scholarship Fund at the National
Academy for Design here.

Sprouse became known in the Eighties for his graffiti art and
fashion designs. In 2001, Vuitton artistic director Marc Jacobs
collaborated with Sprouse and created an instant must-have accessories
collection with the Monogram Graffiti collection. Sprouse died in 2004,
and Vuitton made its first donation to the fund in 2006 when Jacobs
created a scarf in Sprouse’s honor, using one of the collaboration’s
leopard prints.

Vuitton will honor the late artist with three events this Thursday.
The night will kick off with cocktails at the Vuitton boutique on
Greene Street, with a simultaneous event at nearby Deitch Projects’
Wooster Street Gallery for the opening of the “Rock on Mars” Sprouse
retrospective. Afterwards, Vuitton and Jacobs will host a bash at the
Bowery Ballroom, featuring a performance by Sprouse’s friend Debbie
Harry, followed by DJ Jus Ske. The venue is expected to have a Sprouse
feel, with a special graffiti-and-neon decor.

“It’s something new from Vuitton to start the year off,” Lalonde
said of the collection. “The product, design, and expression are
uplifting and rejuvenating. That’s the feel we try to provide for the
evening and for the collection.”

Source: WWD