Too bad Louis V didn't do her tour costumes, eh?

Via MadonnaTribe (with thanks to Peter): Madonna looks smokin', or like someone was smokin' in that restaurant, in her Louis Vuitton shots by Steven Meisel. The  campaign is explained in unintentionally hilarious fashion (pun intended) in an article from WWD that quotes Marc Jacobs saying that a brainstorming session led to him blurting out, "I think we should do Madonna." But isn't this is the least creative idea ever, to be a fashion giant who hands big bucks to Madonna to get some attention? Who hasn't Madonna shilled for over the years? Just off the top of my head, I'm remembering Versace, H&M and The Gap. (Not that I'm complaining; the pix are beautiful and anything that keeps her out of trouble.)

Jacobs's inspiration came from her concert, which he describes as if he has discovered before anyone else that Madonna is fun on stage.

He BlackBerryed Madonna, who said, "I'd love to."

The campaign reunites her with Steven Meisel, who has been shooting her longer than any other photographer—he did the first promo shots for her first album 26 years ago (poster at left) and most infamously the Sex book—and finds her looking wafer-thin and Dietrichy in what is actually an L.A. eatery, Figaro, but what passes for a French bistro. "As cliché as they are, I love all these French references...Excepting the references and excepting the clichés, this still feels very today," Jacobs babbles. What does that even mean if not 'this is a huge cliché but who cares I have Madonna on my BlackBerry?'

Finally, the piece ends with, "The first visuals will spotlight slouchy bags..." And that is where I had to stop reading and just enjoy the fantasy-Madonna images.

More memorable Madonna/Meisel co-productions: