Louis Vuitton returns to Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 with a focused retrospective dedicated to its long-standing collaboration with Frank Gehry, bringing together architecture, design objects, and experimental studies within a single booth. As a Show Partner of the fair, the House positions the presentation as a structured reflection on more than two decades of shared work, mapping Gehry’s contributions through a sequence of eight chapters. The installation moves from large-scale architectural thinking to smaller, tactile objects, placing emphasis on process, material, and form.
EXHIBITIONS
The presentation traces the collaboration back to 2014, when Gehry designed the Fondation Louis Vuitton, introducing a language of glass volumes and layered transparency that continues to inform later projects. That same year marked his first object-based contribution with the “Twisted Box” bag, establishing a link between architectural thinking and product design. Subsequent projects expand this exchange, including the Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul completed in 2019, where curved glass surfaces draw from both the Fondation and local architectural references.
At the center of the booth, Louis Vuitton revisits the Louis Vuitton x Frank Gehry handbag collection first presented at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2023. The series translates key ideas from Gehry’s practice into a set of sculptural accessories, organized around three recurring themes: structure, material, and animal forms. Designs such as the Capucines MM Concrete Pockets reference the tactile quality of architectural façades, while variations featuring fish motifs or animal-inspired handles extend Gehry’s interest in organic forms. Each piece reflects a direct engagement with material limits and fabrication techniques developed within the House.
The exhibition also introduces works that expand beyond handbags, including the reinterpretation of the Louis Vuitton trunk created for the House’s 200th anniversary and the Murano glass Blossom stoppers developed for Les Extraits fragrances. These objects demonstrate how Gehry’s approach shifts across scale, from monumental structures to precise, hand-finished components. A Tambour watch released in 2024 further extends this trajectory, integrating sculptural relief into a horological object while maintaining technical precision through La Fabrique du Temps.
Throughout the presentation, maquettes and studies offer insight into Gehry’s working process, foregrounding experimentation as a central method. His ongoing interest in the Louis Vuitton Monogram also appears through a series of studies that reinterpret the House’s initials into new graphic and structural elements. The booth positions these investigations alongside finished works, allowing visitors to follow the progression from concept to execution.
By structuring the installation as a sequence of interconnected chapters, Louis Vuitton frames the collaboration as an evolving exchange shaped by material research and design logic. Presented at the Hong Kong Convention Centre from March 27 to 29, the retrospective situates Gehry’s work within a broader conversation on architecture, objects, and the role of experimentation across disciplines.
