TOKYO (AP) - Polka dots are Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama's lifelong inspiration, obsession and passion.

And so they're everywhere - not only on canvases but on installations shaped like gnarled tentacles and oversized yellow pumpkins. As part of her retrospective on exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, they also sparkle as "firefly" light bulbs reflected on water and mirrors.

Kusama's signature splash of dots has now arrived in the realm of fashion in a collection from French luxury brand Louis Vuitton - bags, sunglasses, shoes and coats.

"Polka dots are fabulous," Kusama said in a recent interview with The Associated Press, looking much younger than her 83 years in a bright red wig, a polka dot dress she designed herself and one of the new Louis Vuitton polka dot scarves.

Dots aside, Kusama cuts an odd figure for the fashion world. She has lived in a psychiatric institution for decades, battling demons that feed her art.