Louis Vuitton launches three limited editions of the LV Trainer in collaboration with artists Lady Pink, Lee Quiñones and Rammellzee. The iconic trainers will be on display at its ephemeral shop in Milan’s Garage Traversi.

24 February 2023 will see the launch of three limited editions of Louis Vuitton’s iconic LV Trainer, created in collaboration with artists Lady Pink, Lee Quiñones and the estate of the late artist Rammellzee. These editions, which are the first installment of a recurring artistic exchange programme, will be on display at the Louis Vuitton ephemeral shop in Milan’s Garage Traversi from 24 February to 16 March 2023. During the exhibition, the venue will be the exclusive point of sale for these limited edition sneakers.

The collection

On 24 February, Louis Vuitton will unveil “White Canvas: LV Trainer in Residence”, a new collection of limited edition “LV Trainers” reinterpreted by renowned artists. The brand developed this project based on an idea by Virgil Abloh and Sky Gellatly. In it, the leather of the iconic LV Trainer sneaker was a blank canvas for artistic exchange between Louis Vuitton and selected contemporary artists. The collaboration, an invitation to free expression, is a further step in Louis Vuitton‘s commitment to art and an evolution of its ongoing creative conversations.

For the first installment of “White Canvas: LV Trainer in Residence”, Louis Vuitton invited three key artists from the New York underground scene of the 1980s: Lady Pink and Lee Quiñones, already established names in contemporary art, and the estate of the late artist Rammellzee, who are the authors of the reinvention of this sneaker through their inimitable lenses.

Born in Ecuador in 1964, Lady Pink was one of the key players in the rise of graffiti-based art and remains a cult figure in the hip hop community. Lee Quiñones, born in Puerto Rico in 1960, rose to fame by painting murals and entire underground cars, and was instrumental in bringing street art to the surface. Visual artist Rammellzee (1960-2010) expressed himself through rich works of art spanning disciplines such as painting, sculpture and performance.

Virgil Abloh originally designed the LV Trainer for spring-summer 2019 (his inaugural show for Louis Vuitton), a sneaker that fuses the codes of basketball shoes with the Maison’s iconography and savoir faire. Conceived as the quintessential luxury sports shoe, it has appeared in many adaptations in Louis Vuitton’s men’s collections and has become an icon for sneakerheads, a status that is reinforced through the “White Canvas: LV in Residence” project.

The LV Trainer, already a staple in the brand’s men’s collections, is made from leather and comes in low and high top versions. Each pair of LV Trainer is created in the Maison’s Italian factories in Fiesso d’Artico and requires at least seven hours of manufacturing.

The exhibition

From 24 February to 16 March 2023, Louis Vuitton will host the exhibition “White Canvas: LV Trainer in Residence” at the Garage Traversi in Milan. The event, which marks the launch of the collection of the same name, is a new initiative through which the Maison invites different contemporary artists to reinterpret the iconic LV Trainer through their respective techniques. Sky Gellatly, the curator of the exhibition presents the first installment of the project with LV Trainers reinterpreted by artists Lady Pink and Lee Quiñones and the heritage of Rammellzee. The exhibition presents the hand-painted adaptations of the original trainers in the context of the artists’ works. These limited edition LV Trainers will also be on sale at the venue.

Louis Vuitton developed “White Canvas: LV Trainer in Residence” from an idea initiated by its former Men’s Artistic Director. Virgil Abloh asked Sky Gellatly to curate the project, “to elevate a cohort of artists first through the exhibition, and then allow additional input into their work through collaborative trainers”. As CEO and co-founder of ICNCLST/, a dual-functional artist management and marketing agency, Gellatly has organised some of the art world’s most impactful collaborations.

With the original adaptations of the LV Trainer as the focal point, the exhibition includes Lady Pink’s Celtic Piece paintings, Lee Quiñones’ SPLIT #1 and Tablet #3, and Rammellzee’s Incantation of the Queen Bee, as well as the “L” and “V” sculptures from his Letters Racers alphabet. For the opening, Lady Pink and Lee Quiñones will appear in person to each perform a live painting session on large blank canvases, which will then remain in the exhibition. Short films will reflect the transition of the trainers from handcrafted artwork to marketed form, capturing the savoir faire of Louis Vuitton’s craftsmen.

Inspired by the industrial galleries of the New York environment inherent in the practices of the selected artists, the exhibition takes place in the Garage Traversi in Milan’s Piazza San Babila. Built in the 1930s by architects Giuseppe De Min and Alessandro Rimini, it was the first fully automated garage in Italy. Milan was chosen for the “White Canvas” exhibition as a tribute to Louis Vuitton’s expert Italian factories in Fiesso d’Artico, where the LV Trainer is made.

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