Kusama Louis Vuitton Concept Store: Selfridges London

Hi Everyone,

On Saturday I went to London and visited Selfridges on Oxford Street to see the Kusama Louis Vuitton Concept Store because of my love of Marc Jacobs, the creative director of Louis Vuitton.

The Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama has collaborated with Louis Vuitton to create a collection of clothes and accessories all containing Kusama’s signature polka dot pattern.

24 windows of the Selfridges store have been dedicated to the Kusama Louis Vuitton collection. Some contain very lifelike wax figures of Yayoi Kusama with one infront of a large revolving gold heart, some contain small dolls of Yayoi Kusama, some contain manikins sporting the collection and some windows have big bright gold letters and the dotty pattern.

 

 

 

Yayoi Kusama has lived in the open ward of a mental hospital in Japan and she commutes to her art studio every day. Marc Jacobs and Yayoi Kusama first met in 2006 and he has been a fan of her artwork for many years. He said “The obsessive character and the innocence of her artwork touch me.” Yayoi Kusama said that “Marc Jacobs’s sincere attitude towards art is the same as my own. I respect him as a wonderful designer. Louis Vuitton understands and appreciates the nature of my art. Therefore there isn’t much difference from my process of making fashion.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved the concept store at Selfridges. The outside display cases looked amazing with quotations in large gold letters and dots everywhere and the clothes and accessories on display look amazing and the store inside looks incredible too. When you walk into that small part of Selfridges it feels like you’ve been transported to a strange dotty wonderland full of amazing clothes and bags decorated with large white dotty pumpkins, a signature image of Kusama’s. Some of the dotty bags and scarves are to die for, if only I could afford them *sighs*.

 

 

The concept store will be open in Selfridges until the 19^th of October.

S x

Trip to London

Hi,

On Saturday I went on a quick trip to London for a fun day out filled with shopping and food with my family. I got the 8.35 train from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston (this was early for me but we had to go this early so we could be in London for longer). When we got there we got the Victoria Line to Borough Market. We walked around the market looking at all the delicious food and treats available to buy and we ended up buying some tomato and onion focaccia, some chocolate brownies and some cinnamon doughnuts. The market had so many different stalls such as vegetable stalls, smoothie stalls, bread stalls, sweet stalls, cake stalls, sandwich stalls and many more. Once we were finished looking around Borough Market and admiring the view of the Shard we decided to go to Piccadilly.

Borough Market

Inside Borough Market

Tomatoes in Borough Market

The view of The Shard from Borough Market

We walked to Piccadilly and went to Burlington Arcade to make a quick stop at Laduree. I went in and was told off for taking a picture of the delicious macaroons on display by a snooty sales assistant (ooops, I don't know why no photography is allowed :/). I bought a box of 12 macaroons which of course tasted amazing however the shop at Burlington Arcade was very small and cramped and I didn’t like the sales assistant so I may have to visit a different Laduree shop when I next go to London.

The window of Laduree

Burlington Arcade

Outside Fortnum and Mason

Once I had been told off for taking pictures in Laduree we went to Fortnum and Mason, a fancy Department Store in Piccadilly. It was very nice inside there and there were some lovely window displays.
 
After a quick lunch break of takeaway Wasabi sushi in the park and a visit to a Nordic Bakery we walked to Soho. We looked in a few shops along Carnaby Street and then walked on to Wardour Street to visit the infamous Hummingbird Bakery. I have never been to the Hummingbird Bakery before but I have both their recipe books and it has been recommended to me by friends many times. I decided to get a red velvet cupcake to go. It came in a very cute box with a nice little bag to match. We then walked towards Oxford Circus and I spotted the new Victoria’s Secret store that opened a few days ago on Bond Street.

Carnaby Street



Hummingbird Bakery

Then we walked to Selfridges, one of my favourite department stores in the world. At the moment they have the Kusama Louis Vuitton concept store so I had to visit the store on Oxford Street. I love Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs (the creative director of Louis Vuitton) and this is the first time that Selfridges has dedicated all the display cases to one designer. I walked all around Selfridges admiring the jewellery section, the Kusama Louis Vuitton concept store (which was amazing), the makeup section, the shoe section, and the clothes section. We also went to the denim section because in Selfridges from the 20^th August to the 9^th of September there is a Destination Denim event which is “a store-wide programme of exciting denim action, including exclusive product launches, designer appearances, style advice and special events”. As I passed the denim section I spotted Paige Adams-Geller, the creator of Paige Denim, and Sarah Harris from Vogue. I also found out after I got home that Robbie Williams was launching his clothing line in Selfridges on the same day but I didn’t see him there. I had very limited time in Selfridges and had to leave a lot sooner than I wanted to in order to get back to Euston in time to get the train back to Manchester. By the time I had sat down with my bags in the Virgin First Class Lounge at Euston Station with my Diet Pepsi and mini bag of sour cream and chive Penn State Pretzels I was exhausted.

The Kusama Louis Vuitton Display at Selfridges

 

The Red Velvet Cupcake I got from The Hummingbird Bakery

Overall I had a great day in London and being there made me wish I lived there but I still love living in Manchester too.

S x