Last winter, as he was planning his 2009 cruise collection, Louis Vuitton’s Marc Jacobs decided he needed a change. Jacobs, who is known for a certain unpredictability in his style, often needs a change but this one was more radical than usual. Jacobs decided it wasn’t just the clothes that needed something new but the whole concept of the collection, including its marketing. So he threw out photography and brought in illustration, specifically the illustrator Tanya Ling, whom he commissioned to design the textile prints for the 2009 cruise collection, as well as the advertising campaign.

“The collection needed a painterly feeling to it. We don’t have an in-house textile designer and were thinking about who could we commission, and Tanya seemed perfect,” says Peter Copping, head of women’s wear at Louis Vuitton. “It was wonderful for her to work on both the collection and the press shots. To commission the same illustrator to create both is fascinating.”