Object Artycapucines Handbag by Billie Zangewa for Louis Vuitton

In one of our favourite art and fashion crossovers of 2023, Johannesburg-based Billie Zangewa has transposed one of her evocative silk collages onto a Louis Vuitton handbag as part of its Artycapucines series. Zangewa often draws on intimate moments of everyday life in her work – in this instance a trip to a pool with her son Mika, depicted at the water’s edge beneath a terracotta sky. As with the original artwork, The Swimming Lesson, 2020, part of the scene appears to have been torn off, a characteristic trait of the artist, who is drawn to “unfinished things”, as she puts it. The negative space leaves the viewer to complete the picture.

To create the bag, the raw silk was scanned and printed on leather, while metallic embroidery and beadwork bring the pool and Mika to life.