Marc Jacobs | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Jacobs in 2025 | |
| Born | (1963-04-09)April 9, 1963 (age 62) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | High School of Art and Design Parsons The New School for Design |
| Labels |
|
| Spouse | |
| Awards | Knight of theOrder of Arts and Letters (France) |
Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an Americanfashion designer.[1] He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, adiffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was discontinued after the 2015 fall/winter collection.[2] At its peak, it had over 200 retail stores in 80 countries.[3] He was the creative director of the French design houseLouis Vuitton from 1997 to 2014. Jacobs was onTime magazine's "2010Time 100" list of the 100 most influential people in the world,[4] and was #14 onOut magazine's 2012 list of"50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America".[5] He married his longtime partner Charly Defrancesco on April 6, 2019.[6]
Jacobs was born to asecular Jewish family inNew York City.[7][8][9] When he was six, his father, an agent at theWilliam Morris Agency, died. His mother, who remarried three times, was, according to Jacobs, "mentally ill" and "didn't really take care of her kids."[10] As a teenager, he went to live with his paternal grandmother on theUpper West Side, in an apartment in theMajestic onCentral Park West.[11]
Jacobs grew up inTeaneck, New Jersey, and attendedTeaneck High School.[12][13]
He developed a passion for fashion at a young age.[14] He attended theHigh School of Art and Design and studied atParsons School of Design in New York.[7] While atParsons in 1984, he won the Perry Ellis &Chester Weinberg Gold Thimble Award, and Design Student of the Year.[15] In 1987, he became the youngest designer ever to receive theCouncil of Fashion Designers of America's Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent. He also won the Women's Designer of the Year award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1993.[16]
At age 15, Jacobs worked as a stockboy atCharivari, a now-defunctavant-garde clothing boutique in New York City.[17] While studying at Parsons, he designed and sold his first line of hand-knit sweaters. He also designed his first collection for Reuben Thomas, Inc., under the Sketchbook label. WithRobert Duffy, Jacobs's creative collaborator and business partner from the mid-1980s, he formed Jacobs Duffy Designs.[18]
In 1986, backed by Onward Kashiyama USA, Inc., Jacobs designed his first collection bearing the Marc Jacobs label. In 1987, he was the youngest designer to have ever been awarded the fashion industry's highest tribute, theCouncil of Fashion Designers of America's Perry Ellis Award for "New Fashion Talent".[19] In 1988, Jacobs and Duffy joined the women's design unit ofPerry Ellis as creative director/vice president and president, respectively, following the death of its namesake and founder.[20] In addition, Jacobs oversaw the design of the various women's licensees. In 1992, theCouncil of Fashion Designers of America awarded Jacobs with The Women's Designer of the Year Award. In the same year, he designed a "grunge" collection for Perry Ellis, which was critically well-received but its commercial failure led to his dismissal.[21]
.jpg)
In fall 1993, Jacobs Duffy Designs Inc. launched their own licensing and design company, Marc Jacobs International Company, L.P.[19] In 1994, Jacobs produced his first full collection of menswear.[22] In 1997, Jacobs was appointed Louis Vuitton's creative director, where he created the company's firstready-to-wear clothing line.[21] Jacobs collaborated with many popular artists for his Louis Vuitton collections, includingStephen Sprouse,Takashi Murakami,Richard Prince, andKanye West.[23]
_R._das_Carmelitas.JPG)
In spring 2001, Jacobs introduced his secondary line, Marc by Marc Jacobs.[17] In 2005,Look was the Marc by Marc Jacobsready-to-wear license holder in Japan with retail value of €50 million.[24] In 2006, Jacobs started a new line of body-splashfragrances in ten-ounce bottles which were distributed byCoty. In 2007, filmmaker Loïc Prigent released a documentary film about Jacobs entitledMarc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton.[25][26] In 2007, Jacobs released his popularDaisy collection of perfumes.[27]
In February 2008, Jacobs was accused ofplagiarizing ascarf design created in the 1950s by Swedish designer Gösta Olofsson.[28] Jacobs settled the matter by offering monetary compensation to Olofsson's son.[29] In 2009, Jacobs launched a shirt, sold at his stores,[30] demanding the legalization ofgay marriage. In May 2009, Jacobs co-hosted, with modelKate Moss, a "model and muse"-themed gala for the New York CityMetropolitan Museum of Art'sCostume Institute.[31] In February 2010, Jacobs suedEd Hardy for infringing on the designs of one of his embroideredhandbags.[32]
In the course of theMercedes-BenzBerlin Fashion Week in July 2011, Jacobs was the patron of the young talent award "Designer for Tomorrow byPeek & Cloppenburg". The five finalists were selected by Jacob and the jury board and received personal coaching by Jacobs. The jury board and Jacobs appointed the winner of 2011 during the DfT award show.[33] In August 2011, it was reported that Jacobs might succeedJohn Galliano as creative director ofChristian Dior.[34] According toThe Daily Telegraph, Jacobs "firmly laid to rest rumours that he was to move to Christian Dior" in January 2012,[35] but rumors prevailed.[36]
Jacobs made his feature film acting debut inDisconnect (2012), directed byHenry-Alex Rubin and starringJason Bateman,Paula Patton,Alexander Skarsgård andAndrea Riseborough.[37] His character, Harvey, runs a house of teenage Internet porn performers, which is being investigated by a TV reporter, played by Riseborough.[38]
In February 2013, Jacobs was named the new creative director forDiet Coke. In honor of the brand's 30th anniversary, Jacobs spent a year giving the brand a "stylish and light-hearted" makeover.[39] In March 2013, theNew York Daily News revealed that the "faux fur" used in many Marc Jacobs garments is actually the fur fromraccoon dogs from China.[40]
In October 2013, after the Spring/Summer 2014 show, it was revealed that Marc Jacobs would leaveLouis Vuitton to focus on his own line.[41]
On January 9, 2014, it was announced that Jacobs's new Spring/Summer collection would feature actress/singerMiley Cyrus, photographed byDavid Sims.[42]
On February 26, 2014, it was announced that actressJessica Lange would be the new face of Marc Jacobs Beauty. In addition, it was announced that Lange would be featured in the brand's Summer/Fall print-ad campaign photographed by David Sims, and would also star in a short campaign film directed by Jacobs, to start streaming online May 5, 2014.[43] Previously, Jacobs had dressed and interviewed Lange forLove Magazine's fifth anniversary issue, and had her provide a spoken-word version of "Happy Days Are Here Again" as the soundtrack for his Autumn/Winter 2014 show.[43]
Jacobs decided to rely on social media to cast models for Marc by Marc Jacobs's Autumn/Winter 2014 campaign, and with its success did so again for Spring/Summer 2015 with photographer David Sims, with models including Aaron Whitty, Abigail Lipp, Amy Woodman, Ana Viktoria, Dylan Stevens, Eb Eunbi, Lindsay Lurgin, MacKenzie Cockerill, Nadia Kishlan, and Toks Adewetan.[44]
In February 2018,LVMH confirmed that Baja East co-founder John Targon would join Marc Jacobs as "creative director of contemporary".[45]
On August 26, 2019, Jacobs was presented withMTV's first "Fashion Trailblazer Award" at theVideo Music Awards, in partnership with theCouncil of Fashion Designers of America.[46]
In September 2020, Jacobs released Heaven, apolysexual line aimed at a younger audience while blurring gender boundaries. All of the garments incorporated brand signatures to celebrate its history, while giving new context towards a newer, younger audience, catered to alternative style. The campaign also featured young rising stars and trend-setters, such asbeabadoobee andIris Law.[47]
In February 2023, an editorial shoot went viral. The shoot included a smattering of New York City nightlife legends sitting on an extremely long couch. Models includedMemphy, Amber Later,Iris Apatow,Mel Ottenberg,Goth Jafar,Anna Sui, Riley Hooker, Gabriette, Dean Kissick, andRichie Shazam. The shoot included Marc Jacob as designer, Eloise Parry as photographer, Ava Nirui as creative director, Clare Byrne as fashion editor/stylist, Evanie Frausto as hair stylist, Marcelo Gutierrez as makeup artist, and Bert Martirosyan as casting director.[48][49]
In 2024, Jacobs pledged that his products would not use or sell animal fur -- and that they had not since 2018 -- in response to a pressure campaign from animal activists.[50]
In September 2025, a documentary about Jacobs which was made bySofia Coppola titledMarc by Sofia premiered at the2025 Venice Film Festival.[51]
There were 285 Marc by Marc Jacobs and Marc Jacobs Collection retail locations worldwide as of the summer of 2013. The brand-new Marc Jacobs flagship shop opened in Shanghai in December 2013.Shanghai.[52]
In order to concentrate on the growth of his primary brand and cater to a more upscale clientele, Jacobs announced the closure of his subsidiary label Marc by Marc Jacobs in March 2015.[53]
There are now three sites for Heaven by Marc Jacobs inLos Angeles,New York, andLondon.
Explaining his clothes, Jacobs has said "what I prefer is that even if someone feelshedonistic, they don't look it. Curiosity about sex is much more interesting to me than domination... My clothes are not hot. Never. Never."[11] The audience for his fashion shows typically includes celebrities such asKim Gordon andVincent Gallo.[54] Guy Trebay, a critic forThe New York Times, in response toOscar de la Renta's comment that a coat designed by Jacobs closely resembled one that de la Renta had designed thirty years earlier, wrote that "unlike the many brand-name designers who promote the illusion that their output results from a single prodigious creativity, Mr. Jacobs makes no pretense that fashion emerges full blown from the head of one solitary genius".[55] Jacobs was one of the first fashion designers to establish this "street wise aesthetics – a [mash up of] a little preppie, a little grunge, a little couture."[22]
The Marc Jacobs brand hasfine arts driven andavant-gardeadvertisement campaigns, often featuring a group of cultural icons and artists, in lieu of traditionalfashion models in minimally staged settings and photographed by high-profile photographers. In 2015, Jacobs launched a popular lifestyle campaign that featured artists, celebrities, and cultural icons such asSofia Coppola,Cher,Willow Smith,Winona Ryder,Daisy Lowe, andAnthony Kiedis.[56]
Jacobs revisited this approach for the Marc Jacobs Spring 2016 advertising campaign, describing the concept as a fashion story representing a "series of connected events; a visual narrative. It is a personal diary of people who have and continue to inspire me and open my mind to different ways of seeing and thinking. The spectrum of individuals photographed in our Spring/Summer 2016 ad campaign represent a celebration of my America." He further added that "the people featured in our campaign personify this collection of fashion through their individuality. Collectively, they embody and celebrate the spirit and beauty of equality."The New York Observer called it "the best campaign of the Spring 2016 season," and that "the designer [Marc Jacobs] has handpicked a star-studded cast of his family members [people who are key to the Marc Jacobs brand] to model the Americana gear from this collection," thus making the collection notable. The Marc Jacobs Spring 2016 advertising campaign featuredLana Wachowski,Sandra Bernhard,Bette Midler,Juliette Lewis,Christina Ricci,Sky Ferreira,Bella Hadid,Emily Ratajkowski, Vincent Michaud,[57][58] Oli Burslem,Milk, and several runway models.[59]
Jacobs has an ongoing project entitled "Protect The Skin You're In", which has celebrities pose nude, with their breasts and frontal area covered, for T-shirts to raise awareness aboutmelanoma; all sales benefit research at theNYU Langone Medical Center. Some of the celebrities who have posed includeMiley Cyrus,Eva Mendes,Kate Upton,Victoria Beckham,Heidi Klum,Hilary Swank,Cara Delevingne, andNaomi Campbell.[60]
On April 4, 2018, Jacobs proposed to his then-boyfriend, Charly Defrancesco, via aflash mob while in aChipotle restaurant.[61][62] The flash mob did a routine to the song "Kiss" byPrince.[62] They were married in New York City on April 6, 2019.
The couple purchased a home inRye, New York, in April 2019. TheWestchester County home was designed byFrank Lloyd Wright and is known as theMax Hoffman House.[63]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
