Louis Vuitton x Stephen Sprouse Tribute Collection Celebration!

Louis Vuitton’s limited edition Stephen Sprouse skateboard and skateboard case

The much anticipated Louis Vuitton x Stephen Sprouse Tribute Collection is slated to release this Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the SoHo boutique. The complete worldwide launch will follow on February 2, 2009 though the Rose pieces will be available at Louis Vuitton stores worldwide starting Friday, January 9, 2009. With every new collection there are always limited edition pieces, which will only be available at the SoHo location: “a Stephen Sprouse graffiti skateboard replete with a hard case monogram skateboard trunk, and a Stephen Sprouse ‘Roses’ T-shirt. The company hopes to sell three graffiti skateboards with trunks for $8,250 each, and 70 T-shirts for $250 each. Proceeds will benefit Free Arts NYC, Vuitton is also making an undisclosed donation to the Sprouse Estate, as well as the Stephen Sprouse Memorial Scholarship Fund at the National Academy for Design here.”

To commence the release of the new collection, the LV boutique on “SoHo’s Greene Street will be transformed into a Sprouse destination in time for the collection’s arrival. The company is wrapping the store in vinyl and spray painting neon graffiti all over the facade. The window display will feature a 6-foot neon light installation in Sprouse’s Rose motif. The store’s interior, enhanced with black brick wall facing, will also be sprayed with the neon graffiti. Vuitton will honor the late artist with three events this Thursday. The night will kick off with cocktails at the Vuitton boutique on Greene Street, with a simultaneous event at nearby Deitch Projects’ Wooster Street Gallery for the opening of the “Rock on Mars” Sprouse retrospective. Afterwards, Vuitton and Jacobs will host a bash at the Bowery Ballroom, featuring a performance by Sprouse’s friend Debbie Harry, followed by DJ Jus Ske. The venue is expected to have a Sprouse feel, with a special graffiti-and-neon decor.”

“SoHo is a special place for the entire launch of the Sprouse collection,” said Daniel Lalonde, Louis Vuitton North America president and chief executive officer. “It’s in the proximity of where Stephen Sprouse hung out, so we are going to give the entire store a Stephen Sprouse feel. It will have a lot of reminders of Stephen Sprouse. We will be giving it a new identity.” via WWD

I simply can’t wait!