houston | king louis.

in this age of bold pop-culture appropriation, louis vuitton leads the pack. want proof? check out the brand new book, louis vuitton: art, fashion and architecture ($130).

this luscious anthology of LV's artistic collaborations, listed A to Z, reads like a virtual compendium of contemporary artists: olafur eliasson, zaha hadid, james tureell, vivienne westwood, rei kawakubo and stephen sprouse, to name a few. brainiacs such as valerie steel discuss LV's brilliant manipulation of signs—perhaps the most famous example being takahashi murakami's tweaking of the traditional LV monogram in 33 anime-on-acid color—in the book. but it's the 400 pages of glossy photos where the real proof of the fashion house's artistic legacy lies: from a transparent jewel box of a store by one of tokyo's leading modern architects, jun aoki, to david la chapelle's cheeky representation of a nude lil' kim covered in LV logos like a living luxury object. it may seem like hype when the book claims that marc jacobs and louis vuitton "invented pop culture luxury," but after perusing this book, we are inclined to agree.

consider this your royal fix. louis vuitton: art, fashion and architecture. available at louis vuitton. 5015 westheimer road. at the galleria. 713.960.0707. www.louisvuitton.com