Longchamp, in collaboration with creative agency FRED & FARID Los Angeles, is celebrating American artist Robert Indiana with a new collection featuring Indiana’s famed LOVE artwork onto its iconic Le Pliage® bag. With shared values of graphic simplicity, inventive design and optimistic colors, the collection and campaign combines the emotional resonance of Indiana’s universal message with the appeal of Longchamp’s Le Pliage®.
Robert Indiana played a central role in the development of assemblage art, hard-edge painting and Pop Art with work that explores American identity and the power of language.
© Morgan Art Foundation. Licensed by Artestar, New Yorkv
Indiana’s image LOVE with its stacked format began its life in 1964 in a series of frottage drawings that Indiana created and sent to friends. The artist further developed his concept through a series of paintings, sculpture, and prints, which made LOVE an icon of 20th century art and one of the most recognizable works of art in the world.
“Longchamp found inspiration in the enduring connection between fashion and art, leading us to embark on this partnership,” said Longchamp global chief executive officer Jean Cassegrain. “Robert Indiana’s artwork is graphic in style and optimistic in tone, perfectly matching our brand’s bold spirit and vibrant energy. This journey began around six or seven years ago when we first approached him, and even after his passing, our conversations continued with the Robert Indiana Legacy Initiative, resulting in a unique partnership to create a capsule celebrating the iconic ‘love’ artwork, a universal symbol of optimism.”
The campaign, directed and photographed by brothers Tom and Sam Johnson, features a cast of young diverse talent set against a graphic natural setting — rolling green hills and a clear blue sky, paying homage to Robert Indiana’s iconic colors. The film carries a theme of circular motion throughout, symbolizing the idea that love can be found everywhere – in ourselves and more powerfully when it can be shared with others.
“Spread Love” fashion film by Tom Johnson & Sam Johnson
Indiana’s image LOVE with its stacked format began its life in 1964 in a series of frottage drawings that Indiana created and sent to friends. The artist further developed his concept through a series of paintings, sculpture, and prints, which made LOVE an icon of 20th century art and one of the most recognizable works of art in the world.
“Longchamp found inspiration in the enduring connection between fashion and art, leading us to embark on this partnership,” said Longchamp global chief executive officer Jean Cassegrain. “Robert Indiana’s artwork is graphic in style and optimistic in tone, perfectly matching our brand’s bold spirit and vibrant energy. This journey began around six or seven years ago when we first approached him, and even after his passing, our conversations continued with the Robert Indiana Legacy Initiative, resulting in a unique partnership to create a capsule celebrating the iconic ‘love’ artwork, a universal symbol of optimism.”
The campaign, directed and photographed by brothers Tom and Sam Johnson, features a cast of young diverse talent set against a graphic natural setting — rolling green hills and a clear blue sky, paying homage to Robert Indiana’s iconic colors. The film carries a theme of circular motion throughout, symbolizing the idea that love can be found everywhere – in ourselves and more powerfully when it can be shared with others.
“I have always admired the late American artist Robert Indiana, partly because I felt his work, which is so graphic in style and optimistic in tone, really matched the bold spirit and bright energy of Longchamp,” said Longchamp creative director Sophie Delafontaine. “Love is universal, a positive message that is understood all over the world, and I liked the idea of reproducing this message on Le Pliage, a universally beloved bag. I love the idea of releasing an ephemeral collection created to last forever.”
© Morgan Art Foundation. Licensed by Artestar, New York
