Louis Vuitton’s latest Artycapucines collection honours Keith Haring at Art Basel Paris

Few motifs capture Haring’s spirited visual language quite like Running Heart (1984). Here, the artwork takes on a new form in a silver-tone metal minaudière, its surface set with more than 12,000 individually hand-placed strass. Against a field of silver crystals, the red-and-black heart appears on both the front and reverse, retaining the immediacy of the original drawing. The painstaking process takes over a week to complete. Inside, black calfskin lining provides a sleek contrast, accompanied by a leather patch exclusive to the Keith Haring collection and a numbered enamelled tag engraved with the artist’s Dancing Figures.

New York gets its own tribute in this playful minaudière, inspired by two of Haring’s celebrated works, Statue of Liberty (1986) and Untitled (New York Apple) (1984–1986). The familiar takeaway container becomes a collectable object, with the Statue of Liberty on one side and the Big Apple paired with Dancing Figures on the other. It is a fitting nod to the city that shaped Haring’s career, as well as Louis Vuitton’s own relationship with New York. Crafted from lustrous metal and adorned with more than 10,000 individually hand-set strass, the piece takes over a week to complete. 

Dogs take centre stage in this playful interpretation of a composition from the portfolio commonly known as Haring’s Coloring Book (1985–1986). The original page’s number, 17, remains in the design, a small but thoughtful detail for those familiar with the work. Recast as a hard-sided minaudière, the piece features a white resin shell that serves as a gallery-like backdrop for the signature black linework. Over 11 days, artisans use delicate enamel techniques to recreate each figure and outline, preserving the spontaneity and graphic punch of the original drawing. 

Haring’s imagination takes a more intricate turn in the Capucines East-West Mini Maze, inspired by Untitled (Painting for Francesca Alinovi) (1984), whose title references the Italian art critic. The original painting’s layered forms and interwoven colours are seen across the bag’s main body, turning its surface into a labyrinth of detail. Recreating the composition takes around 240 hours. Artisans apply handcrafted beads and threads using traditional needlework and crochet techniques, then mount the work onto a padded structure to create its distinctive relief. It is an exercise in patience as much as artistry, with every thread contributing to the composition’s subtle three-dimensional quality.

Love, unity and community converge in the Capucines Mini Figures, which takes its cue from Haring’s Untitled (Heart). The design focuses on a detail in which interlocking dancing figures and hearts form a spirited emblem of connection. Radiant lines, a hallmark of Haring’s visual language during New York’s 1980s street art movement, lend the composition its sense of movement. Louis Vuitton’s artisans recreate the artwork across white calfskin using intricate needlework and crochet, combining handcrafted beads and threads to give the figures depth and dimension.

See also: Lines that moved the world: a look at the Louis Vuitton Art Déco exhibition

A drawing from a series Haring created in Naples in 1983 inspires this interpretation of the Capucines BB. Interconnecting dolphins and human figures evoke freedom, nature and escape, recalling the artist’s travels beyond New York, including his visits to Brazil, where he spent time with fellow artist Kenny Scharf. Louis Vuitton translates the scene through leather marquetry, assembling hand-cut pieces into overlapping panels that follow the movement and palette of the original. Inlays of ostrich and karung leather add texture and depth, while variations in the natural grain lend each section its own character.

Dance has long offered Haring a way to express joy, freedom and collective celebration, and the Capucines Mini Dancers capture that spirit across both sides of the bag. Inspired by his ballet imagery, the design features elongated bodies and ribbon-like arms that seem to sweep across the leather. On smooth natural white calfskin, an innovative high-frequency embossing technique gives the finely drawn figures a sculptural quality. Positioned beneath the leather, each form rises gently from the surface, creating a three-dimensional effect while preserving the fluidity of Haring’s original linework. 

Inspired by Haring’s Untitled (1989), the Capucines MM Soft Figures brings together mirrored figures, motion lines and serpentine forms in a composition that suggests transformation. The embroidered cotton canvas, in soft ivory, recalls the white ground of the original artwork. The embroidery recreates the yellow figures framed by Haring’s bold orange outlines, retaining the clarity and colour of the original acrylic painting. The bag has a lively presence, putting a spotlight on Haring’s distinctive visual language. 

These two designs have a particularly intriguing backstory. Both the Capucines MM Genesis and Valisette Genesis trace their origins to a Louis Vuitton leather suitcase from the 1930s, an object with a history spanning nearly a century of travel and artistic exchange. Believed to have belonged to one of Haring’s roommates in 1980s New York, the historic porte-habit was transformed in 1984 when the artist drew Radiant Baby figures and surrounding motion lines on its top surface. A symbol of birth, hope and life’s infinite potential, the motif turned an already remarkable travel piece into a singular artwork and a rare artefact of New York’s cultural zeitgeist in the 1980s. 

Rendered in natural white Taurillon leather, the Capucines BB Figures brings Haring’s dancing figures into motion through a series of colourful charms. Connected by matte black chain links, the figures sway with every movement of the bag. Their rainbow palette recalls the Pride flag, reflecting the diversity, unity and inclusivity central to Haring’s artistic vision, while the dancing figures evoke the club culture and nightlife of the New York scene that shaped his work. Laser-printed contours trace the silhouette and continue around the bag’s perimeter and flap, giving the design a crisp, graphic finish. A collection-exclusive leather patch and numbered enamelled tag complete the piece.

The Capucines Mini Symbols gathers some of Haring’s most recognisable motifs into a single, colourful composition. Made from full-grain black Taurillon leather, the bag features enamelled miniature interpretations of Running Heart, Dancing Figure, Skateboarder and Mr Boombox, suspended from a gold-tone decorative S-chain. The charms sway with every movement, turning the bag into a showcase of Haring’s visual universe. Inside, a smooth leather lining and central zipped compartment counter the exterior. Enamelled figures embracing the handle above provide another burst of colour, while a collection-exclusive leather patch and numbered enamelled tag engraved with the artist’s Dancing Figures finish the design.

An embrace takes shape in this miniature metal sculpture, inspired by a ballet dancer from a series of drawings Haring created in the same year as his poster for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo’s 1989 Christmas season at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. Drawn with fluid lines, the figure’s elongated body and ribbon-like gestures evoke the movement of ballet. Rendered in gold-coloured metal with black and white enamel detailing, the dancer cleverly forms the letter L, which gently embraces the V. Opening the bag reveals a black leather interior, completed with a special leather patch exclusive to the Keith Haring Collection and a numbered enamelled tag engraved with Haring’s Dancing Figures.

NOW READ

The Louis Vuitton monogram: a living pattern

Family ties: Rajo Laurel drafts sisters for historic holiday collection

An elegant preview of SANDRO’s fall-winter 2026 collection