Takashi Murakami Brings His Iconic Flowers and Skulls Prints to Vans Surfboards

Takashi Murakami is making art for the masses with Vans.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Takashi Murakami unveiled his sneaker collaboration with Vans late last month. The news came just before Louis Vuitton, Murakami's biggest fashion collaboration to date, announced that it was discontinuing its collaboration with the insanely popular Japanese artist. This capsule with Vans sees Murakami go into a more democratic direction than the luxury price points of LV, and also includes a set of surfboards featuring the artist's iconic flowers and skulls prints

The surfboards were part of a pop-up gallery Murakami held at Paris Fashion Week. The temporary space was created to celebrate Murakami's Vans collaboration and also featured skateboards, graffiti pieces, and carnival games. Murakami explains how the collaboration with Vans is a way for him to make his art available to everyone. "I’m making art for the fans, so it doesn’t affect the art market," he told Complex. The surfboard is just one representation of how Murakami is bringing his art to the type of laid-back dude we associate with surfing, rather than the stuffy collectors who regularly drop over a million on one of the artist's work.

The surfboards are not currently for sale, but you can find a retailer for other Murakami x Vans pieces here. Read more about Murakami's collaboration with Vans and his directorial debut, Jellyfish Eyes, here.

 

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