Thanks to Marc Jacobs, fashion’s love affair with temporary tattoos shows no sign of slowing down. Last week, Jacobs flew Brooklyn-based tattoo artist Scott Campbell – the man behind many of Jacobs’ own designs – to Paris, where Campbell adorned a slew of male models with custom transfer tattoos for the Louis Vuitton Spring 2011 menswear show.
Campbell, perhaps best known for his signature dollar-bill and skull designs, created a line-up of tattoos that moved between traditional and whimsical – fairytale-inspired horses and Chinese Zodiac symbols sat alongside modern reinterpretations of the signature Louis Vuitton monogram. While the tattoos festooned the necks and calves of the models, Campbell also put his touch on the show’s bags – the leather carry-alls were embellished with carved, Asian-inspired designs.
Louis Vuitton is following in the fashionable footsteps of Rodarte and Chanel. For Spring 2010, Rodarte bedecked its models in bold tribal tattoos while Chanel decorated its models with delicate bird and Chanel logo ink. Chanel later went on to release a 75-piece set of transfer tattoos. Similarly, Yves Saint Laurent commissioned Ari Marcopoulos to create a short film – titled No Way Back – on tattoo artist Mark Mahoney.
