The estimated value of Louis Vuitton Murakami items sold in 2003, according to the 'Daily' - a woman's wear trade paper - is $345,000,000!

The anticipation from industry sources is that the Murakami handbags are well on their way to becoming classics - so smile widely if you own an authentic one, it's probably climbing in value almost every day.

 But who exactly is Murakami and where did he "spring" from?

Takashi Murakami, 41, is Japan's answer to Andy Warhol. Growing up in Tokyo he was hugely influenced by the differing characters from Japanese comic books and cartoons, specifically Mange and Anime. Using a combination of these types of characters he evolved his own artistic merchandise from an early age.

In his twenties he studied a blend of Western and Eastern painting styles called Nihonga at Tokyo University before becoming disenchanted with it's lack of real life attachment and turned to something a little different. "I set out to investigate the secret of market survivability through characters like Mickey Mouse, Sonic the Hedgehog, Hello Kitty and Miffy and the way they created a huge imitations market in Hong Kong." he said.

Murakami was invited by Marc Jacobs of Louis Vuitton to create the Louis Vuitton Murakami range and he succeeded in creating an almost iconic collection of limited edition Louis Vuitton Murakami handbag and additionals that have totally changed the way many of us view flower power! (It has also opened up a huge new market for providing a Louis Vuitton Murakami Replica!)

For an idea of the types of additionals that you can find in the Murakami Cherry Blossom range have a look at the purse page.

Heading up his own company, Kaikai Kiki, and using Bill Gates's various works as an inspiration Takashi approaches his artistic assignments with a firm grasp of the current computerised world.

 Starting with the standard artist sketches in a notebook the full image is fleshed out and scanned into a computer. From there Takashi works in Adobe Illustrator, twisting, tweaking and playing until he has an image exactly as his mind's eye sees it.

He cycles through the various shapes, colours, blends and images that a powerful system can produce faster than we can imagine it before settling on a design that please his intentions at the sketch stage. This is exactly how the Louis Vuitton Murakami range "came to be" in the unique form it is today. Each item is totally unique and individual, as described in the section on spotting an authentic LV Murakami.

From there he passes the finished blueprint to his staff who transfer everything to paper and canvas for painting. The value of his work in this particular method? Hands up those who recognise this character on the left.

 For those who don't know him yet, he is called Mr Pointy. Takashi created a 23 foot sculpture of him which was displayed in the Rockefeller Center in New York last year. He recently sold it to the owner of Christies for $1,500,000.00.

 The Louis Vuitton Murakami range is not only iconic but is a travelling work of art - conceived in a notebook, nurtured on a computer and delivered by the skilful hands of trained specialists at Louis Vuitton. Now you know why you think of your Louis Vuitton Murakami as your baby!