In terms of the extent to which tattooing has branched out as a commercially viable product, fashion isn’t exactly the most recent merchandiser of tattoo inspired art. Anyone who has even the vaguest idea of the tattoo world can easily recognize Ed Hardy’s designs and has been able to do so for years now. And while not everyone agrees on the quality of Hardy’s designs, there is no denying that Hardy’s ability to take tattoo art and transfer that to clothing has in many ways paved the way for others to do the same.
With that being said, it also isn’t surprising that later rather than sooner, the high end fashion industry has come along and decided that maybe tattoos aren’t such a bad way of being able to further overcharge people for their stuff. If you’ve ever seen a photo of American fashion designer Marc Jacobs (look right, btw), then you’ll know that the guy’s no stranger to tattoos. After Chanel began selling temporary tattoos last year, the fashion world further warmed to the idea of tattoos and fashion, and Jacobs decided to enlist the help of his personal tattoo artist Scott Campbell, to do some work for him (but not on him). Campbell has just designed a line of tattoo inspired goods for Louis Vuitton, for the first time in the brand’s history.
“At most periods of history, the dominant role of luxury brands has been to demonstrate social status — to uphold the cultural structure. However, there are clear signs that we are moving into a new environment, a shadow side, where luxury brands can powerfully demonstrate tribal affiliations.”
Incidentally, I don’t know what the hell the above quote is talking about – tribal affiliations? Huh? But at any rate, now there’s a whole line of really, really, really expensive Louis Vuitton stuff that has been designed by a very good tattoo artist.
Incase you care.