Virgil Abloh, the creative genius behind the popular Off-White label and the new artistic director of men's wear at Louis Vuitton, shared a photo of Beyoncé sporting a Louis Vuitton x Jeff Koons handbag customized with "King Bey" and "444" embroidered on the straps. The photo briefly existed on Abloh's Instagram page before it was taken down, but not before it was screencapped for posterity.
Although the photo no longer exists on Abloh's page, the customized bag closely resembles the one that does appear in this Instagram photo of Beyoncé's from December 2017.
The customization makes sense considering her husband Jay Z and Koons' creative history. The artist got a notable shout out on the song "Picasso Baby" (“Jeff Koons balloons, I just wanna blow up"). Koons also recreated a 40-foot version of his iconic balloon dogs for Jay's 4:44 festival set.
The French fashion house's first iteration linked with Koons in April 2017 for their first iteration of the "Masters" collaboration. The capsule collection features signature handbags, scarves, wallets, and other staple accessories splashed with artwork from famous artists like Da Vinci, Van Gogh, and Rubens. A second collection was released in October 2017 with a new batch of artists including Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Édouard Manet, and Nicolas Poussin. The pieces also came with Koons and LV monogram lettering in gold.
It is unclear whether or not Abloh personally designed Beyoncé's custom bag.
