Biography
Marc Jacobs is a very influential American fashion designer. Jacobs is “renowned for his sartorial interpretations of trends in popular culture, perhaps most notably his ‘grunge’ collection, which was credited with launching the grunge look of the 1990s. (Nolen) He was born in New York, New York on April 9, 1963. Jacobs grew up in New York City in a non-observant Jewish family. His father was an agent at the William Morris agency, and when Jacobs was seven, his father passed away. Jacobs claimed that his mother was mentally ill and did not take care of him. He went to go live with his grandmother in an apartment in Central Part West. His grandmother was the biggest influence in his life and she taught him how to knit. (Craven) When Jacobs was fifteen years old, he worked at a Charivari, a boutique in New York, as a stock boy. He studied at the Parsons School of Art and Design. Jacobs designed a grunge collection for Perry Ellis, but in 1992, he was laid off.
In 1994, Jacobs launched his first full men’s wear collection, which was the beginning to his eponymous label. Jacobs became the youngest designer ever to win the CFDA Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent. (NY Magazine) Years later, in 1997, he became the creative director of Louis Vuitton. Jacobs created Louis Vuitton’s first ready to wear collection. Today, Jacobs has many different collections in the fashion industry. His own Marc Jacobs label includes men’s wear, women’s wear, shoes, handbags, fragrances, and home furnishings. (Abington)
“Signature” Designs
(WWD)
(WWD)
(Style Sight)
Earlier Influences
Marc Jacobs is inspired by the work of Miuccia Prada because of the aesthetic and the mood. (Alexander) When Jacobs started working at Charivari, he met the fashion designer, Perry Ellis. Ellis became Jacobs mentor and inspiration. (Nolen) Jacobs was also greatly influenced by contemporary art. He is passionate about art and he is an avid art collector. Jacob’s philosophical or aesthetic concepts that he is attracted to in art are often expressed in his runway collections. He uses color, humor and irony that are frequently found in pop art.
Critical Analysis
Marc Jacobs is a member of the X generation. Therefore, his American influences were based on his memories of growing up in New York in the 1970s and his fantasy of youth in America. Paris has also helped Jacobs to create things impulsively. (Craven) Jacobs also had a deep passion of dance clubs, parties, and nightlife of the 1980s. He greatly embraced the zeitgeist (spirit of the times). His controversial unstructured designs are inspired and were inspired by the Seattle grunge scene of the early 1990s. This grunge look was reflected in his collections when he first started out and he still uses this look today in his contemporary designs.
Designers like Elsa Schiaparelli, and Yves Saint Laurent influenced Marc Jacobs’s designs. Schiaparelli’s influence can be seen in the whimsy and sense of humor that Jacobs routinely infuses into his fashion shows. In Jacobs’ Fall 2009 Louis Vuitton collection; he connects to the sense of sexual frivolity that Laurent’s perfected in the 1980s.
Jacobs is truly a fashion icon because of his numerous fashion awards that he has been receiving from the start of his education at Parsons. Jacobs also proves to be a strong icon in fashion because of his success as a creative director for Louis Vuitton. Jacobs, an American designer, taking over a European luxury brand like Louis Vuitton not only made him popular in the United States, but globally as well. Jacobs is also a top candidate to take over the iconic Dior fashion house as the creative director after the departure of John Galliano. (NY Magazine)
Analysis of Future Trends
(WWD)
Marc Jacobs’s “grunge” look is an ongoing trend and Jacobs has made such a huge mark in the fashion industry. If the grunge look is mentioned in this industry, Marc Jacobs’s name will automatically be thought of right away. I believe that this contemporary grunge trend will continue further into the future because it is a great way for consumers to express themselves and it makes a bold statement and self identity. This fantastic grunge look is Jacobs’s signature trend and will be forever.
Proenza Schouler (WWD)
Jacobs influenced other designers like Philip Lim and Proenza Schouler. These particular designers have a similar style and aesthetic as Jacobs. Lim and Schouler also incorporate a contemporary grunge look to their collections.
(WWD)
Jacobs’s lasting signature silhouette in fashion history would be his grunge collection he did with Perry Ellis. Though he was dismissed from Perry Ellis’s company, this gave him plenty of criticism and attention. I do not own any of Marc Jacobs’s garments, but I do own a leather handbag from his Spring 2010 Collection. Though, I do have many garments in my closet that I have bought according to some of Marc Jacobs’s grunge style that cost less than his original garments.
Works Cited
Alexander, Ella. Vogue. 1 June 2011. 31 October 2011 <http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2011/06/01/marc-jacobs-style-inspiration-and-young-designers>.
Craven, Jo. Vogue. 2011 May 11. 31 October 2011 <http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/marc-jacobs-biography>.
NY Magazine. 31 October 2011 <http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/marcjacobs/>.
Style Sight. 1 November 2011 <http://www.stylesight.com/myfolders/zoom_image.php?item_id=image.8784020&set=%7B%22node_id%22%3A%20%22folder-4926-715206%22%7D&position=4>.
WWD. 1 November 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/5269533#/slideshow/image/5269533/0>.
WWD. 1 November 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/5187252#/slideshow/image/5187252/0>.
WWD. 1 November 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/5177383#/slideshow/image/5177383/0>.
WWD. 1 November 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/5154239#/slideshow/image/5154239/0>.
WWD. 1 November 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/1536691#/slideshow/image/1536691/0>.
WWD. 1 November 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/1536648#/slideshow/image/1536648/0>.
WWD. 1 November 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/474883>.
