Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

Louis Vuitton’s Stephen Sprouse Collaboration Turns 20-And Is Still One of the Best Logo Hacks Around

Louis Vuitton’s Stephen Sprouse Collaboration Turns 20-And Is Still One of the Best Logo Hacks Around

Logomania, collaborations, and “hacking”-Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, and Stephen Sprouse started it all.

I’ve been thinking a lot about logos, which is odd because logos are not particularly “in” or “cool” right now. The sly, ironic stamps of graphic approval that colored Balenciaga and Moschino runways circa 2015 have given way to smaller, more intimate statements of branding: A Gucci monogram septum ring, a Prada triangle earring, a stocking in Versace’s new interlock key print. Younger designers working to establish their own, more contemporary heritage brands don’t even have logos that I can easily conjure: Christopher John Rogers I associate more with the colors of a rainbow than the sans-serif text on his labels. Ditto for Eckhaus Latta, which stirs images of denim and lap-band tees-not branding-in my mind, and Conner Ives, a young American upstart already christened by the Met’s Costume Institute, has no logo to think of. The diminishing of the logo as a key brand device has a lot to do with wealth, class, and social strata-after the economic boom of the 2010s, those who will come out the pandemic richer may be more hesitant to flaunt it.



But to many European heritage brands, the logo is sacred. A shorthand icon, and I mean icon in an almost sacrosanct, religious sense; a logo stands in-and up-for the philosophy and ideology of the maison as a whole. It’s the key to the codes, passed down through generations of designer-directors. Before you know the Chanel quilting, the gold chain trim, or the camellia flower, you know the interlaced CCs. (Pharrell and Frank Ocean both have verses about it.) Such holy legends aren’t to be tampered with. Well, at least not in most instances.



Gucci’s recent “hacking” of Balenciaga, in which creative director Alessandro Michele co-opted Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia’s signatures, refuted some of these ideas. The pairing happened not only on the runway, where crystal suits dripped in Gucci and Balenciaga logos, but off it too. Michele and Gvasalia’s text message chain, posted to Gucci’s Instagram stories, was a stream of friendly banter, proving that stablemates can be besties, not competitors. Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault said of the partnership: “[Alessandro and Demna’s] innovative, inclusive, and iconoclastic visions are aligned with the expectations and desires of people today. Those visions are reflected not only in their creative offerings but also in their ability to raise questions about our time and its conventions.” Breaking fashion conventions seems to be good for business: On social media, fashion lovers heralded it for some of the season’s best pieces, a sign that new ideas can flourish in a bleak time.



But that’s, surely, the wrong way to think about it. All this ownership and hacking talk reminded me of one of contemporary fashion’s greatest hacks of all time-though back in 2001 we still called it a collaboration. The early ’00s was a time when sharing the keys, to say nothing of the codes, to the big fashion kingdoms being established by LVMH and then-PPR, now-Kering, was verboten. But then along came the gumptious Marc Jacobs. Four years into his tenure at Louis Vuitton, he did the unthinkable-he fucked with the logo. It was, Jacobs has said in the press, the one thing that was forbidden, so of course he wanted to change it.

Jacobs asked his friend, the equally gumptious Stephen Sprouse, to be the one to do it, setting the groundwork that, 16 years later, allowed for the market-breaking Supreme x LV collab. At the time of their release on the spring 2001 runway, 20 years ago, Jacobs called the bags “anti-snob snobbism” and reassured Vogue’s Sarah Mower in the pages of the January 2001 issue that despite their freehand origins, the bags were “done perfectly.” In Vogue’s March 2001 issue, the collab was celebrated again. “The combination of the staid, old-school Vuitton luggage and the unique energy of Sprouse’s most typical, purest work makes both Sprouse and the luggage look somehow fresh,” wrote Tama Janowitz. The partnership was covered yet again in May 2001, in an article examining copyrights and fakes. No other bag has received the three-times-in-one-season treatment since.

On September 10, 2001, Bryant Park’s New York Fashion Week tents were covered in Sprouse’s graffiti, and in 2009 LV had reissued all the best styles from the partnership in an effort the blog Nitrolicious called “so hot.”

Of course what Jacobs and LV and Michele and Gucci seem to know is that codes are best when they are broken. Owning ideas stifles creativity. Rather than one thing, why not be everything? That’s how a new generation of fashion designers want it. Jonathan Anderson gave away patterns to his Loewe collection and his uber-popular JWA sweater. Reese Cooper did something similar with his popular chore coat. Collina Strada’s Hilary Taymour encourages fans to paint on their own jeans and Telfar’s motto is “It’s not for you, it’s for everybody.” Hacking, sharing, collaborating-call it whatever you want. It’s the future, and it’s better together. As Michele told my colleague Nicole Phelps: “It’s a playground that we can share all together.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
×