Portland Cares: Mr. T-related art is found to be more valuable than non-Mr. T-related art. [Boing Boing]

LVMHTMMJ: Louis Vuitton’s new print will be a camo-inspired collab with Marc Jacobs and Takashi Murakami. Somewhere in Los Angeles, Kanye cries tears of joy. [Fashion Week Daily]

The O.G.: Rachel Bilson expands her expertise to include designing jeans. [My Fashion Life]

Bubble Pit: Sony fills a Miami street with foam for no apparent reason. [Josh Spear]

Our #2 Export: The possibilities of polluting the world with lameness. [PSFK]

Takashi Murakami has been gaining profile for a while now—he designed the slightly hideous album cover for Kanye’s latest, and is collaborating with Marc Jacobs on a pattern for Louis Vuitton—but his nouveau-Warhol shtick has always left most of America shaking their heads.

Witness, for instance, the kerfuffle surrounding his upcoming exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. The fashion press went wild over Vuitton-based rumors—would the museum be hawking LV bags? Would they get a peek at the new Marc Jacobs pattern?—without giving thought to the exhibition itself. Naturally, the art world is skeptical.

More on Murakami»

The gala opening of Takashi Murakami’s exhibition was predictably packed last night, with Marc Jacobs among the attendees. Kanye took a break from managing his new travel site to put on a show and keep the crowd on their feet. And, aside from the eminent-domain protests outside, things couldn’t have gone better.

Louis Vuitton was well-represented with an outdoor table of pointedly non-counterfeit goods, but they had more than a few representatives in the crowd as well»

Marc Jacobs and Takashi Murakami’s long-discussed Louis Vuitton Monogramouflage pattern was unveiled at Thursday’s gala exhibit opening and, as you might have expected from the impish Murakami, it takes the logo to some very new places.

Messrs. Jacobs and Murakami keep LV’s geometric symbols, but switch up the regal purple-and-gold pattern for a squiggly pop-art camo that’s more suited to comic books than oil paintings. It’s more in line with Murakami’s aesthetic than Jacobs’ or Louis Vuitton’s, and it raises more than a few questions about where Jacobs plans to take the brand»

We’ve seen a lot of weird endorsements, but we’ve never seen anything quite like this.

Ostensibly, it’s an ad for Absolut Vodka, but the Absolut name isn’t mentioned until the final shot and vodka isn’t mentioned at all. It looks like an infomercial but the product is not just imaginary but also impossible. And why are there flying tigers? How could this have happened? How could a video this strange not only come into existence, but be produced and aired on a commercial scale?

The answer, of course, is Kanye.

We examine the curious Mr. West»

When manga artist Takashi Murakami was first tapped to collaborate with Louis Vuitton, he opened our eyes to the burgeoning cultural renaissance taking place in Japan.

Now the Japanese avant-garde is getting the full treatment in Ian Luna’s Tokyolife: Art & Design, which showcases the work of over 80 creative types pushing the boundaries in those fields as well as architecture, film, photography and of course fashion. While some names like Nigo of A Bathing Ape are already widely familiar and influential, others have yet to make their mark on the West.

Here’s your primer.

David LaChapelle has done a lot—from a very respectable MTV catalog to a long, long history taking pictures of beautiful women—but this is the first time he’s turned his attention to a liquor bottle.

The bottle in question is Remy Martin’s V.S.O.P., a cognac aimed at the nightlife crowd, so it makes sense that they turned to Jazz Age icon Josephine Baker for inspiration. The overall effect may be more Miami than Paris, but we aren’t complaining. In fact, we like the way this trend is headed. Before too long, we’ll be seeing Takashi Murakami’s take on a Sapporo can and Belvedere bottles decorated with Terry Richardson’s nudes.

We can’t wait.

Wonder of Wonders: Dita Von Teese’s Wonderbra campaign hits the internet. [FashionIndie]

Max Power: Kempt favorite Takashi Murakami stops by to explain maximalism and drop the first highbrow P-Funk reference we’ve ever heard. [Esquire]

Team America: The Shipley & Halmos kids discuss Olympic uniforms. [Men.Style]

A Woman and a Gun: Naomi Campbell is terrifying people for a good cause in this photographer’s take on racism in modeling. [Show Studio]

The Impostor: A tour of some of the more innovative uses of the Louis Vuitton pattern, not counting Mr. Murakami. [Gawker]

Scarlett Fever: A critical consideration of Scarlett Johansson. With bikini pics. [ThisRecording]

Tartan Love: A user’s guide to the plaid suit. [AskMen]

Kind of Gray: Style tips to see you through the non-summer months. Don’t forget your mittens. [A Suitable Wardrobe]

George Carlin once said that America is good at two things: taking a good idea and running it completely into the ground and taking a bad idea and running it completely into the ground. We’re feeling charitable, so we’ll say this is a case of the former.

We like Takashi Murakami, and Marc Jacobs has been on his game lately, but their Monogramouflage pattern has officially reached the saturation point. This, for instance, is just embarrassing. Designed as a reader giveaway for Numero Tokyo, a Japanese high fashion mag, the mousepad may mark the moment when we got tired of the whole idea of luxury patterns.

That’s right. It’s a mousepad.

It’s no wonder Jacobs is trying to scale back the collaborations. If he isn’t careful, he may end up in the computer business.

We’re giving our boy Takashi the benefit of the doubt here and assuming this is a knockoff.

Still, imagine the horrifying world we would enter if this sort of thing becomes common practice. So far the world of art and the world of things-you-can-imprint-on-your-jeans have remained blissfully separate. Nobody wants to see a formaldehyde-soaked shark sewn into your Levi’s. Pretty soon, that grungy-looking fellow with the paint-splattered chinos will be asking if you like his Pollocks.

Run, Banksy, run! Save yourself!

Back by popular demand—the latest installment in our series of pulchritudinous pairings, because two is sometimes so much better than one. This snap comes to us all the way from Moscow and a private dinner following megabucks gallerist Larry Gagosian’s new contemporary art show in a former chocolate factory.

Our delectable duo is of course Russian. On the left is supermodel Natalia Vodianova best known for her Calvin Klein campaigns and countless others; on the right, Dasha Zhukova, girlfriend of free-spending billionaire oligarch Roman Abramovich who’s launching her own well-financed foray into the art world. No doubt she was just there to pick up a little something by Jeff Koons or Takashi Murakami.

Strong Leadership: Apparently the fourth debate will be in the form of a pushup race. [Gawker]

The Grapes of Wright:The economy is taking its toll on classical modernist architecture. So it ain’t all bad. [Unbeige]

Pop-Art Popped: Unfortunately, our boy Murakami is feeling the pinch too. [Luxist]

Manning the Hoff: Phillip Seymour Hoffman continues to spawn disheveled, method-prone children. [Daily Intel]

To cap off our recent Japan fixation, we’re taking a look at Limoland, a Murakami-esque line out of (you guessed it) Tokyo.

The icon this time around is Limo, a wide-mouthed cartoon head adorning various brightly colored goods from totes to parkas to laptop cases. Some of it verges into M.I.A. territory, but we like Limo himself. We’ve seen enough logos that it’s nice to see a genuinely fresh face.

A few more pictures»

Things are getting a little grim in the art world lately, with more than a third of the lots going unsold at Sotheby’s impressionism auction this Monday. Apparently the folks that have $10 million to spend on impressionist paintings are investing it in gold bars or bulletproof jets instead. The only good news to come out of the auction was for Edvard Munch’s Vampire, which sold for three million more than expected.

We’ve always been financially savvy, so we’ve come to the following conclusion. The art market may be depressed, but the market for depressing art has never been better.

The Hirsts and Murakamis of the world had better take note: what the people want is paintings of people crying, preferably in black. By the time the year is out, the Met will be handing out Kleenex at every show.

Anyone want to go halfsies on Goya’s Saturn?

Just when it seemed like things were cooling down for Takashi Murakami, the holidays roll around and everyone in retail goes completely insane.

In the case of Louis Vuitton, that means wrapping an entire store in a vinyl sheet imprinted with your latest pattern. As branding moves go, it’s hard to beat dressing up your store as an enormous handbag, although Marc Jacobs could still top it by tattooing his name across his forehead.

Mostly we’re just surprised they’re still standing by Takashi after so long. After all, the store doesn’t look that different from one of the walls at Murakami’s Brooklyn Museum exhibit when this whole crazy trip started off.

Maybe they’re in it for art after all.

The overlap between the fashion and art world tends to be a sly, embarrassed one—at least, as long as you’re name isn’t Murakami. But we’re always happy when designers spread their wings, especially on the web.

Helmut Lang recently put up a virtual gallery with some of his less wearable items—like heavily textured pine tar on wooden boards, or the riveted stacks above. The best part to our eyes is the rotating images on the website that let you see Helmut’s precious creations from any angle.

Of course, it wouldn’t be truly upscale without a liquor sponsor, so Helmut’s latest project gets the moniker “In an Absolut World.” Just because it’s art doesn’t mean it can’t be good business.

When will the Murakami collaborations stop?

It’s his own fault in a lot of ways: He developed an easily replicated aesthetic, a half-earnest approach towards branding, and a general philosophy of trying anything once. But by the time he started making watches, he should have known the jig was up.

Thanks, Kanye. Thanks a lot.

Our favorite bowtie-glad pop artist is expanding into yet another field. Not satisfied with fantastic gallery work and the occasional high-fashion collab, Takashi Murakami is getting his Pixar on. Or should we say, his Miyazaki.

His latest project is an animation and film studio dedicated to the characters he’s produced. The trailer for the first major animated film kaikai & kiki debuted at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary art this year, and he’s already gone as far as setting up office space. Apparently he has a bit more faith in the economy than Mr. Hirst.

See the trailer and a few of Murakami’s economic musings»

There are many theories on the correct way to dress for an art show party, but Takashi Murakami clearly subscribes to the “batshit crazy” school. Try to imagine Damien Hirst doing this, and you’ll know why we prefer Takashi.

This photo comes from the Art Basel show currently happening in Miami beach, so he doesn’t have all that much to lose. Nobody begrudges a crazy artist or two, and after taking a look at their balance sheets, we bet a bit of cartoonish glee was just what they needed.

In the post-Hirst era, an artist’s only as good as his brand. And a brand’s only as good as its mascot…

Apparently Takashi Murakami decided to give a little fuel to those Walt Disney comparisons, releasing three 20 second mini-spots for a fictional tv show starring one of his creations.

This time, it’s Inochi, a grotesquely misshapen schoolboy who seems to be going through a sexual awakening. The spots are familiar to anyone who saw his Brooklyn Museum exhibition, but this time around, it seems like he has a decent shot at the mainstream. Aren’t we supposed to be in a television renaissance?

We have to think there’s a basic cable channel out there that would be willing to bankroll this. The publicity alone would be priceless. Is TV Land doing anything these days?

See the video»

This is a snap from the latest redesign of Louis Vuitton’s Omotesando store in Tokyo, but it should look familiar to anyone who’s caught the traveling Murakami retrospective that’s been making the rounds for the past year.

The wallpaper and central flower-ball are all taken direct from the exhibit where they worked to great effect…but we’re not sure if it’s quite what we want in a retail setting.

We explain further»

Takashi Murakami’s ongoing Louis Vuitton collaboration has already yielded some strange fruits, but he shows no signs of letting up. This video is the second instance of his Miyazaki-esque animated side in the service of a strangely tongue-in-cheek style of branding.

The video—on display now in Japanese LV stores-is a fairly straightforward advertising fable—a young girl is transported to 1890s Paris to fall in love with a 14-year-old Gaston Louis Vuitton—but it’s a good deal more psychedelic than is strictly necessary, and Murakami’s mushroom shaped creations and jittery electronic strums are a bit too unsettling for the story to fit nicely in the inviting world of advertising.

We’ve got the sneaking suspicion someone’s trying to pull something, but we’re not sure who it is.

See the video»

Anyone wondering what Takashi Murakami would be up to next should start booking a flight. In Paris on the 15th, he’ll be exhibiting his first show of new work since a slew of retrospectives last year. There won’t be any Louis Vuitton, but Kanye should be well represented: out of 17 works, three will be statues of Kanye’s notorious bear figure. Well played, Mr. West.

Like a Bird: We’re guessing it was something he said. [Fashion Copious]

Needs More Logo: A look at Takashi Murakami’s latest show. [The Moment]

I’m Tired of Your Selvedge Demands: A talk with the denim guru behind Self Edge. [Complex]

Together Again: Mr. Seinfeld chats nervously about the Curb-based reunion. Also, what’s the deal with those Corona ads? [Vulture]

With both claymation and comic books safely transitioned from childhood curios to highbrow art, it’s time for a few more nostalgia pieces to make the leap. And we’ve always been partial to coloring books…

This one in particular—part of the Between the Lines series—has some serious high art pedigree, with uncolored illustrations from Takashi Murakami, Raymond Pettibon and newly minted sneaker empersario Kehinde Wiley. They’re all incomplete works…but that’s the whole point. It’s one of the smarter open collaborations the art world’s seen in quite a while. All that’s missing is a place to see the works after they’ve gotten a little crayon on them, but it’s nothing a tumblr couldn’t solve.

And if you were wondering about the $20 price tag, the proceeds go to RxArt, a non-profit dedicated to bringing art into hospital settings. Hopefully they’ll bring a few books along for the ride.

Girls on Film: V Magazine branches out into video. [V Magazine]

Tit for Tat: A clever designer has put together the definitive infographic on breasts. Always good to know more. [GOOD]

Marty: In time for Shutter Island, Vanity Fair digs up a Casino-era Scorcese interview. Not a fan of flying, it turns out. [Vanity Fair]

Cosplay Goes Mainstream: Kirsten Dunst, Takashi Murakami and McG seem to have had the same extremely strange idea at once. [WBE]