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Words: Charlotte Core

Join us as we celebrate the brilliantly unexpected pairing of Champagne house Veuve Clicquot and artist Yayoi Kusama. Scroll on to discover the story behind the limited-edition La Grande Dame 2012 bottle redesigned by Yayoi Kusama (whose immersive Infinity Rooms installation is now showing at the Tate Modern), and find out more about Kusama’s fascinating artwork, specially commissioned poem, and her history of working with us at Selfridges on our most memorable art moments.

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Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2012 is only available for delivery to the UK and Hong Kong.
VEUVE CLICQUOT - La Grande Dame 2012 x Yayoi Kusama by Tondabayashi Ran @tondabayashiran

INSPIRATION IN BLOOM

INSPIRATION IN BLOOM

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To celebrate the innovative La Grande Dame 2012 collaboration, Veuve Clicquot’s campaign, Inspiration in Bloom for 2021, aims to encourage all of us to live more bold, joyous and considerate lives. Ten creatives from around the world, including Shini Park, Tondabayashi Ran and Alice Gao, answered the question “what makes me bloom?“ with a series of innovative and thought-provoking images, videos and messages inspired by the works of Yayoi Kusama.

VEUVE CLICQUOT - La Grande Dame 2012 x Yayoi Kusama by Shini Park @shini.park

“I love to look for the unexpected,” says Creative Director and Photographer Minh T. “A beauty that might exists in mundane places, a beauty that is often ignored. This sense of discovery is what continues to excite and propel my work into the future.” For multidisciplinary creative Tondabayaski Ran (pictured), her work, often peppered with unexpected touches and eccentricity, is driven by “hope, optimism and thoughts hidden inside.” For digital storytelling creative Shini Park, (work pictured), George Bernard Shaw’s quote defines her humour-laden approach to creativity: ‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.’

To discover more, visit veuveclicquot.com/en-gb/inspiration-in-bloom

INSPIRATION IN BLOOM

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To celebrate the innovative La Grande Dame 2012 collaboration, Veuve Clicquot’s campaign, Inspiration in Bloom for 2021, aims to encourage all of us to live more bold, joyous and considerate lives. Ten creatives from around the world, including Shini Park, Tondabayashi Ran and Alice Gao, answered the question “what makes me bloom?“ with a series of innovative and thought-provoking images, videos and messages inspired by the works of Yayoi Kusama. 

“I love to look for the unexpected,” says Creative Director and Photographer Minh T. “A beauty that might exists in mundane places, a beauty that is often ignored. This sense of discovery is what continues to excite and propel my work into the future.” For multidisciplinary creative Tondabayaski Ran (pictured), her work, often peppered with unexpected touches and eccentricity, is driven by “hope, optimism and thoughts hidden inside.” For digital storytelling creative Shini Park, (work pictured), George Bernard Shaw’s quote defines her humour-laden approach to creativity: ‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.’

To discover more, visit veuveclicquot.com/en-gb/inspiration-in-bloom
© YAYOI KUSAMA

THE STORY
OF VEUVE CLICQUOT AND YAYOI KUSAMA

THE STORY
OF VEUVE CLICQUOT AND YAYOI KUSAMA

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What do you get when you combine the light, airy bubbles from a refreshing flute of Veuve Clicquot Champagne and the surreal, almost hypnotising polka-dot art style of Yayoi Kusama? Well, look no further: it’s right here in the shape of our limited-edition La Grande Dame 2012.

THE STORY OF VEUVE CLICQUOT AND

YAYOI KUSAMA

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What do you get when you combine the light, airy bubbles from a refreshing flute of Veuve Clicquot Champagne and the surreal, almost hypnotising polka-dot art style of Yayoi Kusama? Well, look no further: it’s right here in the shape of our limited-edition La Grande Dame 2012.

Designed in Yayoi Kusama’s signature psychedelic art style, complete with a bright, blooming flower, the limited-edition La Grande Dame 2012 bottle is a manifestation of a long history of collaboration between the artist and the Champagne house. Back in 2006, Kusama reimagined a traditional painting of Madame Clicquot (nicknamed the Grande Dame of Champagne) with her art piece ‘Twist with Madame Clicquot’ for a Tokyo charity auction. Now, they’ve joined forces once more, with Kusama designing the La Grande Dame 2012 case and bottle using her iconic symbols, flowers and polka dots. “It’s an honour and a privilege to continue our longstanding creative collaboration with Yayoi Kusama,” says Jean-Marc Gallot, President and CEO of Veuve Clicquot. “Yayoi Kusama’s artistic expression is both generous and deeply optimistic. This resonates with Veuve Clicquot, a House that has always sparkled with optimism and a hopeful sense of joie de vivre.”

As for what you’ll find inside the bottle? “This new vintage offers a strong minerality carried by Pinot Noir, balanced with the freshness of the blend. Its ageing potential is immense.” So says Veuve Clicquot’s Cellar Master, Didier Mariotti. “It is playful, lively, laughing.” We’ll toast to that.

Self Obliterated by Dots: Madame Clicquot.  © YAYOI KUSAMA

Designed in Yayoi Kusama’s signature psychedelic art style, complete with a bright, blooming flower, the limited-edition La Grande Dame 2012 bottle is a manifestation of a long history of collaboration between the artist and the Champagne house. Back in 2006, Kusama reimagined a traditional painting of Madame Clicquot (nicknamed the Grande Dame of Champagne) with her art piece ‘Twist with Madame Clicquot’ for a Tokyo charity auction. Now, they’ve joined forces once more. “It’s an honour and a privilege to continue our longstanding creative collaboration with Yayoi Kusama,” says Jean-Marc Gallot, President and CEO of Veuve Clicquot. “Yayoi Kusama’s artistic expression is both generous and deeply optimistic. This resonates with Veuve Clicquot, a House that has always sparkled with optimism and a hopeful sense of joie de vivre.”

As for what you’ll find inside the bottle? “This new vintage offers a strong minerality carried by Pinot Noir, balanced with the freshness of the blend. Its ageing potential is immense.” So says Veuve Clicquot’s Cellar Master, Didier Mariotti. “It is playful, lively, laughing.” We’ll toast to that.


OUR EARTH IS ONLY ONE POLKA DOT AMONG A MILLION STARS IN THE UNIVERSE. POLKA DOTS POINT THE WAY TO INFINITY.


- Yayoi Kusama, 1968

‘My Heart Blooms in the Darkness of the Night’ sculpture by Yayoi Kusama and Veuve Clicquot x Yayoi Kusama La Grande Dame 2012

DELICIOUS AND EARTH-CONSCIOUS, TOO

DELICIOUS AND EARTH-CONSCIOUS, TOO

Did you know that Veuve Clicquot’s grapes are grown sustainably? The vineyards in France are farmed using sustainable viticulture techniques (and have been certified as having ‘High Environmental Value’ by the French Ministry of Agriculture), which helps to minimise any environmental impact. They’re also completely herbicide-free, relying on natural fertilisers, careful soil management and water conservation to help manage growth, weeds and soil fertility – rejecting the use of environmentally-damaging pesticides.

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MY HEART THAT BLOOMS IN THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT

Watch the video to discover the poem Kusama penned in honour of the collaboration, ‘My Heart That Blooms in the Darkness of the Night’. It shares its name with the other-worldly flower sculpture crafted in line with the launch: a copper and resin piece with psychedelic stems, petals and leaves that wrap themselves around the La Grande Dame bottle, keeping it safe.

MY HEART THAT BLOOMS IN THE
DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT

Watch the video to discover the poem Kusama penned in honour of the collaboration, ‘My Heart That Blooms in the Darkness of the Night’. It shares its name with the other-worldly flower sculpture crafted in line with the launch: a copper and resin piece with psychedelic stems, petals and leaves that wrap themselves around the La Grande Dame bottle, keeping it safe.

© YAYOI KUSAMA

SELFRIDGES LOVES
YAYOI KUSAMA

SELFRIDGES LOVES
Yayoi Kusama

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Born in Japan in 1929, Yayoi Kusama – otherwise known as the “High Priestess of Polka Dots”– is one of the world’s most famous contemporary artists. Widely recognised for her obsessive polka-dot patterns, iconic pumpkin sculptures and incredible infinity-mirrored rooms (where she brings the endless repetition of her polka dots to life using lights and mirrored chambers), Kusama is first and foremost an artist, but also a poet, writer and designer. 

Instantly recognisable and endlessly captivating, Kusama’s work draws millions of visitors to exhibitions around the world, while her collaborations with fashion houses are a hit with both casual fans and art collectors alike.

Speaking of fans, at Selfridges we have been under Kusama’s creative spell for years. Back in 2012, we celebrated Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton’s collaborative collection in the most attention-grabbing way possible: by having her art take over all of our windows and erecting a 13-foot statue of Kusama on the front of our Oxford Street store (because, why not?). Created from fibreglass and painted with red and white polka dots, it took five hours for her figure to be carefully lifted into position and placed in front of the Queen of Time statue above the Oxford Street entrance.

Then, in 2019, as part of our State of The Arts campaign – where we explored the power of accessible art in unexpected places – Kusama’s art piece ‘Infinite Accumulation’ was unveiled in the Selfridges London Duke Street window. The piece (a collection of metallic spheres connected by undulating metal rods) formed part of our ‘art trail’, including pieces by Rebecca Ackroyd, Matthew Darbyshire and Darren Almond, among others. Kusama’s piece invited us to think about ourselves as one of many dots in the universe – each dot, unable to stand on its own, requires the presence of others, allowing us to visualise a society in which each member helps and supports others. Now there’s a thought we can all enjoy raising a toast to.

Yayoi Kusama at Selfridges London, 2012

Speaking of fans, at Selfridges we have been under Kusama’s creative spell for years. Back in 2012, we celebrated Yayoi Kusama and Louis Vuitton’s collaborative collection in the most attention-grabbing way possible: by having her art take over all of our windows and erecting a 13-foot statue of Kusama on the front of our Oxford Street store (because, why not?). Created from fibreglass and painted with red and white polka dots, it took five hours for her figure to be carefully lifted into position and placed in front of the Queen of Time statue above the Oxford Street entrance.

Then, in 2019, as part of our State of The Arts campaign – where we explored the power of accessible art in unexpected places – Kusama’s art piece ‘Infinite Accumulation’ was unveiled in the Selfridges London Duke Street window. The piece (a collection of metallic spheres connected by undulating metal rods) formed part of our ‘art trail’, including pieces by Rebecca Ackroyd, Matthew Darbyshire and Darren Almond, among others. Kusama’s piece invited us to think about ourselves as one of many dots in the universe – each dot, unable to stand on its own, requires the presence of others, allowing us to visualise a society in which each member helps and supports others. Now there’s a thought we can all enjoy raising a toast to.

The making of the Yayoi Kusama statue in collaboration with Louis Vuitton at Selfridges London, 2012

Discover more art at Selfridges

Take a tour of the amazing art pieces you can discover across our stores – without a velvet rope in sight.

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