Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton take over Grand Palais with eight-metre-tall octopus
Artist Takashi Murakami and fashion brand Louis Vuitton have created a giant inflatable octopus informed by Chinese lanterns, which has been installed at the newly restored Grand Palais museum in Paris in time for Art Basel.
The eight-metre-tall sculpture sits on the Balcon d'honneur balcony inside the Grand Palais, where its long tentacles stretch around a door.
Murakami and Louis Vuitton custom-made the octopus for the space, and also designed carpeting with the same tentacle motifs. The figure's head has been decorated with Murakami's Superflat Jellyfish Eyes pattern.
"Drawing on the artist's childhood, this motif evokes the fear of being watched, while giving it a whimsical form that softens its frightening nature," Louis Vuitton said.
The colourful octopus has a sheer design reminiscent of Chinese paper lanterns, and was coloured in red and pink hues with contrasting white undersides and blue suckers.
It was designed to mark the launch of their latest collaboration, called Artycapucines VII – Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami collection, which features accessories decorated with the artist's illustrations.
The duo first collaborated 22 years ago when Murakami reinvented Louis Vuitton's Monogram canvas for a collection that quickly gained cult status.
The Artycapucines VII – Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami collection features 11 handbags, decorated with motifs including miniature versions of the octopus designs and displayed among the tentacles.
The exhibition at the Grand Palais also shows sketches by Murakami, as well as three of his spherical Plush Balls artworks in kaleidoscopic colours.
The artist created the Cherry Blossom Plush Ball, informed by sakura flowers from the Japanese cherry tree, specially for the exhibition.
For the Artycapucines VII collection, Louis Vuitton used technology that wasn't as widely available when the fashion house first collaborated with Murakami in 2003, including 3D printing.
The artist also recently collaborated with Louis Vuitton on a pop-up store in New York City, informed by Tokyo's small, affordable capsule hotels.
Elsewhere in Paris, Louis Vuitton previously worked with Studio Mumbai founder Bijoy Jain to create a giant snakes and ladders board for its Spring Summer 2026 menswear show, while in Shanghai, the brand created a ship-shaped store.
The photography is courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
The Artycapucines VII – Louis Vuitton × Takashi Murakami launched as part of Art Basel Paris 2025 on 24 to 26 October. See Dezeen Events Guide for more design events and exhibitions around the world.
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