Louis Vuitton Uses AR To Cover Landmarks In Yayoi Kusama Polka Dots

Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kusama make the best of their collaboration collections.

Using augmented reality (AR), this French luxury home covers iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Tower Bridge, Arc de Triomphe, Natural History Museum and London’s National Gallery with Kusama’s iconic and colorful polka dots.

Unlimited possibilities. Showing what’s new #LouisVuitton collaborate with #YayoiKusama, Harrods’ famous façade was reimagined in the artist’s colorful Painted Dots motif. explore #LVxYayoiKusama on https://t.co/SVRWpuNh1y pic.twitter.com/ZiF8ONpIqf

—Louis Vuitton (@LouisVuitton) January 18, 2023

Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama Collection: How is AR used to cover landmarks?

AR campaigns created with Snap’s Landmarker Lenses, which can be used by opening Snapchat. In select cities, the technology allows users to search for a page or Louis Vuitton Lens and select a landmark in front of it to see Kusama’s red, yellow, blue, green, and white dots appear on the screen. Likewise, the French maison’s physical store was also covered in polka dots during the collection’s launch. This is the brand’s second collaboration with the Japanese icon, the first being in 2012.

Pumpkin Painter. Feel infinity by painting the dots #YayoiKusamaiconic pumpkins to reveal a special surprise in the new #LVxYayoiKusama Application. Learn more about #LouisVuitton collaboration and download the application at https://t.co/V9y6VjFwjc pic.twitter.com/esRVTGprO4

—Louis Vuitton (@LouisVuitton) January 14, 2023

Geoffrey Perez, Head of Global Luxury at Snap Inc. make it clear that the brand wants to do something big. “We wanted to create something on a large scale that also means a lot: painting the world’s greatest landmarks and monuments is also a statement, just as Louis Vuitton paints their boutiques and stores. This is the Louis Vuitton and Kusama team’s way of demonstrating the bridge between online and offline; they digitally paint their dots over the real world.”

This partnership between Louis Vuitton and Snapchat is an extension of some of the brand’s previous experiments with the app. In 2019, the house previously rendered Virgil Abloh’s Keepall Bag in AR. Now, Snapchat has curated Lenses featuring a pumpkin face filter inspired by Kusama, as well as another filter that adds dots to the user’s surroundings.

In a statement, Pierre Castillon, Director of Digital Media at Louis Vuitton, said the Snap partnership made the brand possible “expanding our creativity through new technology playgrounds, just like we do physically in our stores”. It also opened up French homes to Gen Z consumers as Snap says it’s used by 75 percent of 13 to 34 year olds across 20 countries (including France, US and UK).

(Hero image credit: Courtesy Snap Inc., Instagram/Louis Vuitton)
(Feature image credit: Courtesy Snap Inc.)