Vuitton gets a Robert Wilson makeover

The Louis Vuitton window displays this Christmas season are beautiful and not to be missed. Walk around the Rodeo Drive store, particularly at night, and the gorgeous illuminated electric oranges and lime greens lift the spirits. They were designed by the director and artist Robert Wilson, who sees all the world as a potential stage and who flew into town Monday to oversee the opening of his production of the Georg Buchner piece “Woyzeck” at UCLA.

On hand Monday night for a reception at the Beverly Hills store, Wilson said that he also designed a new line of handbags in those striking colors as a theatrical counterpoint to the dark shades of Vuitton luggage and perhaps to bring a bit of joy -- his word -- to a world on the brink of war and beset with terrorism.

Ironically, Wilson, in an understated dark suit, was maybe the most somber-looking person in a store crowded with flashy, self-absorbed Hollywood fashion plates. But even this master of the theatrical non sequitur was slightly taken aback by the woman in leopard-striped pants who marched up to him near the entrance of the store and asked who he was. “I’m Robert Wilson,” he said.

“Oh,” she said, “are you related to Wilson tennis balls?”

-- ark Swed