Louis Vuitton Scarves Get An Artsy Spin In The Hands Of This Duo
Louis Vuitton invited Studio Icinori to reinvent its silk scarves as part of the LV Art Silk Squares project.
Collaborations with the art world have become a trusted way of injecting novelty into fashion. The most considered of these also bring meaning to fashion with their focus on craftsmanship. Recently, Louis Vuitton launched LV Art Silk Squares, inviting five contemporary artists to interpret the four‐petal flower motif that’s part of its iconic monogram. Their creations were then meticulously and faithfully transferred onto silk scarves by artisans in Como, Italy – famed for its expertise in silks – so much so that they can double as artworks when framed. We get an exclusive interview with the whimsical design and publishing studio Icinori – comprising Mayumi Otero and Raphael Urwiller, and one of the five guest collaborators – on its method, madness and magic.
FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH YOU, TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND.
The France‐based studio Icinori – comprising designers, visual artists and publishers Mayumi Otero (left) and Raphael Urwiller (right) – is one of five names in contemporary art selected to design custom works for the new LVArt Silk Squares collection.
“We met at art school and quickly formed a duo to produce experimental drawings, stories and books. The combination of our very diverse origins (both are French, though Otero’s father is Spanish and her mother, Japanese) means our work is rooted in dialogue, encounters or clashes between several very different worlds. We threw ourselves into our work – there are so many things to do, techniques to learn, and opportunities for experimentation and expression. We did painting, engraving, printing, screen‐printing, lithographs. We drew by night and printed by day, voracious and hoping to one day be able to calmly express everything that was bubbling up in our common world. We’ve experimented with galleries, the press, art publishers, works for adults and young people – any project with the potential to create new interactions, dialogues, options and resources. It has been more than 15 years since we started and we’re still searching.”
WHAT ARE SOME RECURRING ELEMENTS IN YOUR WORK AND WHAT DO YOU SEEK TO EXPRESS THROUGH IT?
“Each project has its own path ... In this case, the silk square is a rare object heavy with history and meaning, and it could be weighed down with an iconic story. At the same time, it’s light and free, and is still just a colourful piece of fabric. We believe in the magic of labour – we work, and we exchange ideas and desires. Some are very carefully constructed and conceptualised, and this gives them a certain scholarly heaviness. We then take great pleasure in adding much more instinctive, playful and surreal elements. This back and forth between structure and a form of carefree, almost psychedelic nature is a recurring element in our work. There are two of us: Each of us has our own energy and complementary desires – when one is water, the other is mountain, and vice versa. We work slowly, at length. In the dark, we bang on the walls and sometimes end up finding an opening into a small, unknown world. We can only describe it as one that has been patiently waiting for us.”
WHAT SERVED AS THE BASIS FOR YOUR LOUIS VUITTON SILK SQUARE TITLED MALLES MONDE (FRENCH FOR “WORLD OF TRUNKS”)?
Icinori is known for its signature dreamy‐meets‐graphic aesthetic that’s informed by traditional Japanese tales and applied across a wide variety of print art, including editorial illustrations, and children’s and art books.
“Louis Vuitton has a powerful history – it’s an artisan devoted to its art and the quality of its materials and, above all, to packing, protecting, shaping and caring for objects to be transported as well as handed down. It’s a house that protects each person’s inner world in trunks, bags and boxes so that, at journey’s end, opening these containers is a moment of light revealing an avalanche of tiny wonders.” (Available in two colourways – one orange and the other, rose pink – the Malles Monde scarf features illustrations of Louis Vuitton trunks blossoming with plant life and symbols from the brand’s monogram in Icinori’s signature fantasy‐made‐modern aesthetic and vivid colours.)
WERE THERE ANY DIFFERENCES IN THE WAY YOU WORKED WITH LOUIS VUITTON AS COMPARED TO WHEN YOU WORK ON YOUR OWN?
“Louis Vuitton is a very big company. We were afraid we might have to change our approach, but – as with the Seoul edition of the Travel Book series that we worked on (part of the maison’s travel guide series that sends artists and emerging talent to destinations unknown to them, then gets them to share about their experience through illustrations) – the reception to us was positive. It was in the brief that we were to be ourselves.”
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT HOW YOU COLLABORATED WITH THE LOUIS VUITTON TEAMS TO BRING YOUR IDEAS FOR LV ART SILK SQUARES TO FRUITION?
A behind‐the‐scenes look at Icinori’s Otero and Urwiller working on their blossom‐laden print for the LV Art Silk Squares project: All the scarves in the collection are created through a long and meticulous process, with the artists’ works carefully transferred onto the maison’s silk squares in Como, Italy – a town famed for its silk craftsmanship. Recreating the artwork on silk involves layering colours on the pristine white fabric, followed by washing and drying.The final touch is the application of the traditional roulottage technique, in which the edges of the fabric are carefully rolled and hand‐stitched to create a neat, durable finish.
“We were very touched by how down to earth and supportive the collaboration was. We were provided a workspace, printing tests, incredible materials, colour charts. We were shown a love of printing savoir faire and a technical exactitude that’s quite rare. And we were allowed a very long wish list! We were surprised to discover that their work language was so close to ours and so enthusiastic ... We managed to create a fair number of sketches and the hardest part was choosing the final version withthe whole team, as there were too many we desired ... To create is to choose, and we had to choose one design out of 10, one detail out of a thousand, and – harder still – two colour ranges out of the hundred tests we did ... Overall, it was a flexible and open interaction focused on the quality of the object.”
THE SILK SQUARE IS AN ACCESSORY, SO THIS COLLABORATION BRINGS YOUR WORK INTO THE PUBLIC REALM. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?
“When we finish a book, we simply say, ‘It has been set free and it’s now up to the book to live its life.’ Then, we get news about it a few years later – from Brazil, from Alaska, from a four‐year‐old child in Japan who won’t go to sleep without it. We’ve already done books, posters and short films. We’ve already experimented with textiles, but the scarf is a new adventure ... It’s an object that’s free. It carries so much history and has so many uses – a thousand ways to be given, unfolded, worn and brought to life! This is something we’ve been dreaming about for a long time, and we’re patiently waiting to get news about how it does.”
For this tie‐up with Louis Vuitton, Icinori has come up with a vivid print titled Malles Monde, which showcases the maison’s iconic trunks bursting with flora as a nod to its history in trunk‐making as well as to signify the perpetual renewal and ongoing journey of life.
DO YOU VIEW THIS PROJECT AS ART OR FASHION?
“How can you distinguish between the two? We’re designers. We produced these drawings with all our soul and sincerity – works that were meticulously applied in the form of coloured pigments to a material born of incredible savoir faire ... The object is the bearer of all this history and it’ll be up to its owner to decide! For us, the object is elusive, indescribable and lavish because it’s free to be worn like a piece of fabric or gazed upon like a print.”
THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED FOR BREVITY AND CLARITY.
This article first appeared in the October 2024 Unusual Edition of FEMALE