DUKESARCHIVE

The 2017 Supreme x Louis Vuitton Red Monogram Trunk Set of 2 is a luxurious and highly coveted collaboration between the iconic streetwear brand Supreme and the legendary fashion house Louis Vuitton. This exclusive set features two trunks adorned with Louis Vuitton's classic monogram pattern in a striking red color, complemented by Supreme's bold logo. Combining Supreme's edgy, urban aesthetic with Louis Vuitton's timeless craftsmanship and elegance, these trunks are crafted from premium materials, offering both style and durability. As part of a limited-edition collection, they have become rare collector's items, symbolizing the fusion of high fashion and street culture. The 2017 collaboration between Supreme and Louis Vuitton is a landmark moment in the fashion world, signifying a groundbreaking fusion of high-end luxury and streetwear culture. This partnership marked the first time a major luxury fashion house joined forces with a streetwear brand on such an extensive and integrated collection. It bridged the gap between two seemingly disparate fashion worlds, creating a buzz that extended beyond traditional fashion circles to mainstream and youth cultures. The collaboration produced iconic pieces that blended Supreme's bold, urban aesthetic with Louis Vuitton's timeless sophistication and craftsmanship. This not only elevated the status of streetwear within the luxury market but also demonstrated the evolving landscape of fashion, where boundaries are increasingly blurred, and cross-genre collaborations are celebrated. The success of this collection paved the way for future partnerships and set a precedent for how luxury brands could innovate and stay relevant in a rapidly changing industry. 

Showing an auctioneer conducting a sale to a room packed with bidders, Morons is based on the historical moment when Van Gogh’s Sunflowers achieved a hammer price of GBP 22.5 million at Christie’s on 30 March 1987, setting the record price for any work of art at auction. This moment marked the beginning of changes in the art market, with the emergence of mega lots achieving record prices. In the present work, the large canvas being auctioned humorously bears the words, in block capitals. Banksy mocks the crowd, representing art collectors in general, who are ready to bid huge sums of money in order to acquire artworks. Some even doing so just to speculate and resell at higher prices, transforming the art market almost like a commodity trading market. Ironically, Banksy is now one also the subject of intense bidding from art collectors willing to purchase his works for very high prices. Obviously, Banksy’s relationship with the art market is complicated and nuanced, just like his relationship with law enforcement, which is precisely why he is so successful. The artist has expressed similarly critical opinions of the art world’s commercialism through public pranks such as the famous stunt he pulled in 2008 at Sotheby’s auction of Girl with Balloon. Immediately after the hammer struck down at a record price, a shredder that Banksy built into the frame itself was triggered, causing the art to immediately begin being shredded to the shock and horror of the art world. The painting has since been renamed Love is in the Bin and has unquestionably increased substantially in value after it got partially shredded publicly. The irony never ends with Banksy. The LA Edition of Morons differs from the later version released by Pictures on Walls, principally because of the gold frame… however it also misses the green numbers in front of the auctioneer that are found on the POW version. POW only released the remaining 400 prints unsigned prints. Morons (LA Edition) is numbered /500.

One of the most prominent figures in the 1980's New York graffiti subculture, Keith Haring is a widely recognized Artist coming up during the Pop Art wave. His signature style would become a global visual language and one of the most popular Art in the world due to its simplicity and attainable "Art is for everyone" philosophy behind his work . Much of his work includes sexual allusions that turned into social activism by using the images to advocate for safe and AIDS awareness. Harings popularity grew from his spontaneous drawings in New York City subways. Chalk outlines of his signature style figures, dogs and other stylized images. This chalk on black paper drawing is from the original subway drawings by Keith Haring himself in the New York City subways circa 1980 - 1985.