Takashi Murakami in 2025: Major Exhibitions, Fashion Collaborations, and Cultural Milestones

• “Seoul, Kawaii Summer Vacation” Murakami has opened a new solo show in Seoul at the APMA Cabinet (Amorepacific headquarters) called Seoul, Kawaii Summer Vacation. Gagosian
  • It opened September 2, 2025. Gagosian
  • Features new paintings and sculptures, exploring his signature flower motifs across multiple media. Gagosian
  • It is his first solo exhibition in Seoul since Takashi in Superflat Wonderland at the PLATEAU (Samsung Museum of Art) in 2013. Gagosian
• “Takashi Murakami: Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow” – Cleveland Museum of Art This is an expanded version of a show first shown in Los Angeles. AP News+2Cleveland Museum of Art+2
  • It includes over 100 works: paintings, sculptures, and large installations. AP News
  • The show layers Murakami’s playful pop imagery over deeper themes: trauma, collective history (e.g., Tōhoku disaster, COVID-19), and cultural identity. AP News+2Cleveland Museum of Art+2
• “JAPONISME → Cognitive Revolution: Learning from Hiroshige” – Gagosian, New York (Chelsea) Another show of note. Murakami reflects on Japanese art history (e.g. Hiroshige) and how it interacts with modern pop culture, anime/manga, technology, and global art flows. MutualArt+2Artnet+2
• There are also reports he is expanding two major museum shows in New York and Cleveland in 2025. ArtNews

Fashion, Brand Collaborations & Product Drops

• Louis Vuitton × Takashi Murakami 20-Year Re-edition (2025) Probably the most high-profile re-activation of one of his earliest fashion collaborations. Key details:
  • The re-edition launched January 1, 2025 for the first chapter. Harper's Bazaar Australia+2Highsnobiety+2
  • A second “Chapter Two” released in March 2025, which focuses on Murakami’s Cherry Blossom motif. Hypebeast+2LVMH+2
  • The collection has over 150–200 items spanning bags, shoes, trunks, accessories, fine jewelry, etc. Highsnobiety+2Hypebeast+2
  • Campaigns involve Zendaya as a face/model. Highsnobiety+1
• MLB Tokyo Series Collection A limited edition collection released March 7, 2025, to coincide with the MLB Tokyo Series (Dodgers vs Cubs at Tokyo Dome). MLB.com+2NBC Los Angeles+2
  • Features Murakami’s art on MLB apparel (hoodies, jerseys), caps (New Era), gloves/bats, trading cards and more. MLB.com+1
  • Available via Complex, Fanatics, MLBShop, and at physical pop-ups in Los Angeles and Tokyo. MLB.com
• Ohana Hatake – Murakami’s Own Footwear Label A relatively newer direction:
  • Shoes (sliders, etc.) with his signature motifs (smiling flowers, etc.). Wallpaper*
  • A pop-up in London (Selfridges) from August 4-24, 2025. Wallpaper*
  • The brand name Ohana Hatake means “field of flowers” in Japanese. Wallpaper*

Thematic Threads & Artistic Evolution

• Murakami continues to balance pop and trauma / history. His exhibitions are not just vibrant flower-icons and cartoons; they are often built upon serious themes: Japan’s history, disaster, mortality, cultural identity. (As seen in Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow and in some London/Gagosian work). AP News+2ArtNews+2
• He is reflecting more explicitly on Japanese art history: Hiroshige, the Edo period, nihonga (Japanese traditional painting), superflat, and how those intersect with modern visual culture (anime, kawaii, global pop). Gagosian+2MutualArt+2
• There’s also a sense of archive / nostalgia / re-edition in his fashion work: revisiting early 2000s LV collaboration, bringing back monogram variants, etc., but with updated craftsmanship, motifs, new colorways. LVMH+3Harper's Bazaar Australia+3Hypebeast+3

Why It Matters Now

• 2025 marks 20 years since Murakami’s first major Louis Vuitton collaboration. That anniversary is being leveraged in art & fashion to re-contextualize his role: not just pop / kawaii cartoon-based but as a bridge between Japanese traditional aesthetics and global luxury/pop culture. Harper's Bazaar Australia+2Highsnobiety+2
• His expanding portfolio of own-label work (Ohana Hatake) suggests he’s pushing beyond collaborations and into building his own brands and identity in fashion/retail. That’s important for both his artistic legacy and commercial influence. Wallpaper*
• The scale of exhibitions, especially ones that explore serious history and trauma, shows that Murakami’s audience is still wide, but his art is maturing in how it handles weighty subject matter. Not just fun visuals, but layered narratives.

What to Watch Next

• New shows in New York & Cleveland are being expanded; keep an eye out for upcoming gallery announcements. ArtNews
• Further drops from Ohana Hatake, possibly expanding beyond slippers / sliders into other footwear or even apparel.
• Potential for more collaborations bridging art / sport / fashion, given the success of the MLB Tokyo Series line.
• How Murakami continues revisiting (or reinterpreting) his older works (monograms, past motifs) in the current cultural moment (retro Y2K, nostalgia, global expansion of streetwear & fashion collectors