Richard Prince

What with one thing and another, Marc Jacobs caused quite a stir during the most recent run of fashion weeks. The most enduring topic of conversation - aside from the Spongebob Squarepants influences? His Louis Vuitton bags created in collaboration with artist Richard Prince which have shot straight to the top of the Spring/Summer wishlist of fashion editors everywhere.

The name Richard Prince may be unfamiliar to you, but you will have undoubtedly encountered his work, be it the series of covers he produced for the November issue of W magazine featuring paparazzi shots of his favourite celebrities, or his pulp-romance inspired nurse paintings that appeared on a Sonic Youth album cover (check them out and the line-up of kinky nurses at the Louis Vuitton will make complete sense). Prince gained instant notoriety in the late 70s by re-photographing photos that had appeared in the New York Times – cue much industry discussion on it's favourite topic, ‘What constitutes art?’ – and he has been courting controversy ever since by treading the fine line between referencing and copying. He’s even been sued by Brooke Shield’s mother for using a provocative image of a 15 year old Brooke. His latest collaboration has instantly boosted his profile which appears to have done him no harm at all. At a recent Christie’s auction, watched by a post Halloween blue-haired Marc Jacobs, his ‘Piney Woods Nurse’ painting sold for $6.09 million, a bit of an improvement on the expected $2.2 million, and an amount that makes the cost of an it bag seem like small change. Expect to see his spray painted and text print bags toted by the fashion pack and celebrities everywhere come 2008.