Online designer consignment boutique, Tradesy, is venturing away from one-of-a-kind handbags and towards repurposed toilets, missiles and sculptures for their latest collaboration.
The website joined ranks with controversial artist Illma Gore to create an exhibit in the brand’s Los Angeles showroom. Things took a turn for the dadaist when Gore churned out the gallery’s magnum opus: a fully-functional golden toilet, covered in $15,000 worth of Louis Vuitton leathers, on sale only for a measly $100,000. From Duchamp to Cattelan, the art world’s love affair with the powder room is hardly new—but it’s never been this chic (nor this comfortably-lined).
The toilet is in good company: other repurposed décor pieces include busts of Abraham Lincoln wrapped in Vuitton Leathers (both the classic monogram and the Damier Azur check, for variety’s sake). Another refashioned goody is the missile hanging from the gallery’s ceiling, coated entirely in the Gucci canvas print. For fashion purists, the exhibit also boasts a gradient wall of Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags, hyper-embellished Chanel crossbodies, and acrylic cases brandishing designer stilettos – Christian Louboutin and YSL being chief among them.
Getty Images for Tradesy / Joe Scarnici
The exhibit isn’t Gore’s first foray into the controversial. The artist made waves in 2016, with her nude portrait of Donald Trump making its rounds on the viral reaches of the internet throughout the election cycle. Tradesy, however, isn’t the first to decompose designer goods: in 2012, L.A.-based photographer Tyler Shields once severed and burned a red crocodile Birkin bag from Hermès for a series of photos.
All of the objets d’art in the Tradesy showroom will be for sale exclusively in-store and on Tradesy.com.
Main Image: Getty Images for Tradesy / Joe Scarnici
