Many Louis Vuitton acolytes may be unaware that the house’s now-iconic monogrammed canvas was originally inspired by Japanese mon emblems back in 1896. More widely publicized is current Men’s Creative Director Pharrell Williams’s longtime love affair with the East Asian country, perhaps best epitomized by his close relationship with the designer Nigo, with whom he most recently collaborated on his Fall/Winter 2025 Louis Vuitton collection.
This year, the century-spanning creative dialogue between the house and Japanese cultural emblems of all sizes is being honored at the 2025 World Expo Osaka Kansai in an LVMH-sponsored French Pavilion. Inside, an immersive narrative designed by Japanese-born OMA architect Shohei Shigematsu awaits. Rodin’s The Cathedral stands sentinel amid an 85-strong army of wardrobe trunks, all set to an original soundscape.
Composed in collaboration with the French Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music, the score imagines the intimate vibrations of savoir faire. Meanwhile, a video work presents a “trunk sphere”—a sensory journey by artist Daito Manabe projected on the space’s walls.
This cross-cultural conversation continues at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka with “Visionary Journeys,” on view through Sept. 17. Curated by art and fashion historian Florence Müller, the exhibition offers a turned-on-its-axis take on Louis Vuitton’s history, including original swaths of the brand’s Japanese craft-inspired monogram canvas and other archival pulls.
The season is rounded out with a final one-two punch: dual Louis Vuitton Editions publications developed for the occasion. The first, Fashion Eye Osaka, is a psychedelic celebration of urban intrigue by photographer Jean-Vincent Simonet. The next is City Guide Osaka, featuring insights from food critic François Simon and Osaka-born artist Verdy.
As this flurry of launches unfolds, one detail comes into focus: Without Japan, we might never have the Louis Vuitton we know today—or tomorrow.
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