Louis Vuitton with Yayoi Kusama

LOUIS VUITTON  and Yayoi Kusama are teaming up to create a collection, launching on July 10 - with a second instalment landing in stores in October. The French fashion house first worked with the Japanese artist back in February, when it offered financial support for her retrospective at the Tate Modern.
"Every time I went to leave, she'd bring me back in," said Louis Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs of his first meeting with Yayoi Kusama in 2006. As the label launches its new collaboration with the artist, Jacobs reveals his first impressions of her.

Bold, playful and not for the faint-hearted, the offering features the artist's signature bold spots - which cover every item, from bags to dresses. The range is the house's most significant artist collaboration since it teamed up with Steven Sprouse in 2001 to create his now-iconic graffiti bags. Highlights from the Kusama collection include a yellow drop-waisted dress with a frill skirt; cropped trousers in red and black; classic trench coats, given a surreal twist with the artist's vibrant spots; and silk scarves - which offer a more subtle way to buy into the collection.

The influence of artist Yayoi Kusama has never been more apparent than it is today. a fashion collection inspired by her work - and her current extensive retrospective at London's Tate Modern, the Japanese 83-year-old is fast becoming one of this year's most talked-about artists.

Kusama was fascinated by art from an early age, using it as a means to escape her difficult childhood - during which her mother made her spy on her father's philandering, which had a lasting, traumatic effect of how the artist stills sees sex.