Prestigious Pill-Popping. Designer Drugs by Desire Obtain Cherish.

Addicted to fashion, luxury or status? These sculptures of blister packs of pills with recognizable logos from luxury brands Hermes, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton are UV cast in resin by the Los Angeles based artist Desire Obtain Cherish. Each of the satirical status symbols measures 42" x 27".

CHANEL:

Hermes:

Louis Vuitton:

YSL (Yves Saint Laurent)


Take two and be more chic in the morning.

About: Desire Obtain Cherish


LA-based artist Desire Obtain Cherish received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) at Parson’s School of Design. Since his emergence as a street artist in the 2000s, DOC has blended the concerns and methods of street, pop, conceptual and appropriation art with popular culture to create his own unique satirical message. His work, though often controversial, is always engaging, and explores contemporary obsessions with sex, desire, drugs, gender, celebrity, media, commerce and fame.

DOC’s artwork rarely inspires moderate responses, an indication of his achievements’ importance. With DOC focusing on some of the most banal objects as models, his works avoid typical standards of “good taste” in art, and instead focus on the vulnerabilities of hierarchies and value systems. DOC’s work “reflects a darker, albeit more humorous slant on middle-class American values versus a spiritual or expressive essence of a highly individual artist.”
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See more of his captivating work here.

What The Top Luxury Brands Did (Or Didn't Do) To Wish Customers A Happy Holiday.

What did the top Luxury brands do this year to connect with their fans, engage their consumers and wish them a happy holiday season?  Well, I'm going to show you.

Besides e-mail blasts to those on their mailing lists and in their databases, some of the world's most well-known luxury brands created special short holiday films or flash videos (Burberry, Cartier, CHANEL and Dior) they shared on their own websites, YouTube and Facebook.  Some built interactive apps (Moet & Chandon, Hennessey and Mercedes -Benz), some reinforced their brand by posting holiday branded images on Facebook's timeline cover and on their pages and Twitter channels (Tiffany & Co., Hermes, Gucci, Louis Vuitton) or engaged in some geurilla tactics (Tiffany & Co. in London) and some, sadly,  did nothing except push their own products (BMW, Rolex and Prada).



I compiled the following examples from the top luxury brands according to Millward Brown and Interbrand (as well as a few additional brands such as Dior, Porsche and Mercedes Benz). I checked their websites (some global, some US), Facebook pages and Twitter feeds to share with you what they created and shared via social media for the Holiday Season*.

BURBERRY



As always, Burberry knows how to take advantage of digital media. In addition posting the above imagery on Facebook with heartfelt greetings, they created a "Magical Burberry Festive Card" a flash greeting card you can view and share.




TIFFANY & CO



Kudos to Tiffany & Co. for not only posting Christmas wishes and imagery on Facebook but for wrapping 100 taxicabs in London and offering free Christmas music downloads at their website from She and Him (no longer available):




CHANEL


In addition to some lovely CHANEL imagery posted on their Facebook page like that shown above, they created this special holiday video:


Although not listed as one of the top luxury brands, Dior also created a Holiday Wishes video worth sharing:


CARTIER


Cartier has a 'Wintertale" section on their Facebook page which allows you to watch this short film or create and share a wishlist:


MOET & CHANDON


In addition to many festive holiday images featuring their products on their facebook page, Moet & Chandon has an interactive app on Facebook and their own site that let's you pop the cork for the holidays. And see how many have before you.




HENNESSEY


While it's not holiday music (and I wish it were), as a gift to their Facebook fans and Twitter followers, Hennessey compiled a spotify playlist with the following message: "The Hennessy #WildRabbit Spotify playlist is our gift to your ears. Listen now, listen for free. Happy listening, and Happy Holidays!" (For this you do need to add the spotify app to your Facebook page).

MERCEDES BENZ


Mercedes Benz featured a holiday image and greeting on facebook and created the custom Naughty or Nice card, a facebook app that let's you you customize a card to send to the friend of your choice.




HERMES


Hermes had this nice banner, shown above, on their Facebook page. And posted some of their illustrated greetings by Alice Charbin on Facebook, but that's all. More holiday illustrations by Charbin, who creates all the illustrations for Hermes' emails and website, can be found here on Pinterest:


GUCCI


Sadly, Gucci simply posted this lame greeting card on Facebook. But at least the theme of gold ribbons is echoed on their website for some branding consistency.

LOUIS VUITTON
LV posted this season's greetings image to their facebook fans:


I was disappointed that Louis Vuitton is pushing their Luck Collection under the guise of Holiday Inspirations. While their site allows you to 'share your luck' while exploring the collection by turning a wheel with Christmas music playing in the background and adding items to your wish list, it's merely a way to sell more product.

PORSCHE
At least Porsche had this cute holiday image posted on their Facebook page, but that was about it.



BMW, ROLEX & PRADA
The most disappointing were BMW, Rolex and Prada. None of these brands posted or shared festive holiday greetings or imagery on their respective Facebook pages, websites or pinterest boards. Wouldn't have taken much to do. FAIL.

*While some of these brands have Pinterest boards and some do not, I did not include images from these in this post.

Louis Vuitton's Infinitely Kusama Collection (And All Its Hype) Will Have You Seeing Spots.

If you can connect the dots, you'll have seen this latest collaboration between luxury brand Louis Vuitton and 83 year old Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, known for her dots, waves, pumpkins and brightly colored severe haircut, hyped to the hilt.



above: A wax figure of Yayoi Kusama stands in one of the window displays of Louis Vuitton's Flagship New York store

Along with the launch of the new womenswear ready-to-wear collection (the entire collection of which is shown further down in this post), the New York flagship store has been covered in dots with its windows filled with wax figures and miniature versions of the artist surrounded by her work and the collection:





The Whitney Museum has a Kusama Retrospective timed to coincide with the collection's release.



The Tate Museum just featured an exhibit of Kusama's works, and the line is accompanied by artworks that will be showcased in the Louis Vuitton New Bond Street Maison’s dedicated exhibition space.

Yayoi Kusama: Princess Of The Dots:


iPhone App:


As part of the collaboration with Yayoi Kusama, Louis Vuitton has created an iPhone app that turns any picture into a unique visual inspired by the artist’s signature waves or Dots and upload it to their online gallery, Visions of the Kusama World.



Collaborations between artists and fashion houses are nothing new, but this one is being heralded like the Second Coming.

The collection includes four subcategories based on the signature art styles of Yayoi Kusama: Dots, Waves, Pumpkin and Town. The expansive line includes Fashion and Fine Jewellery, Handbags, Small Leather Goods, Luggage, Scarves, Pareos, Pumps, Flats, Sunglasses and Ready-To-Wear fashions.


above: The pumpkin bag is a precious creation of galvanised metal with pure gold and resin

While I'm a fan of Kasuma's work, some of the pieces in the new collection are truly fabulous while others look like they came straight from Minnie Mouse's wardrobe closet. No doubt about it, you gotta like dots to like Louis Vuitton's Infinitely Kusama Collection.

The Infinitely Kusama Accessories:
Infinitely Kusama Pumps:

Infinitely Kusama flats:

Infinitely Kusama Watch, Collar, Snood and Shawl:

Infinitely Kusama Fashion Jewellery:

Infinitely Kusama Handbags and leather goods:

Infinitely Kusama Luggage:

Infinitely Kusama Pareos and Beach Towel:

Infinitely Kusama Pumpkin scarf and charm:

Infinitely Kusama Town Monogram Silk Scarf:

Infinitely Kusama Sunglasses:



The Ready to Wear Infinitely Kusama Womenswear collection:









Most of the collection is available in store only, but you can shop for some of the accessories online here

Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kasuma's Infinitely Kusama Collection