STYLING: KATIE GRAND. HAIR: GUIDO PALAU. BARBER: JIMMY HU$TLE. MAKE-UP: PAT McGRATH. NAILS: JIN SOON CHOI.PRODUCTION: ART & COMMERCE. DIGITAL ARTWORK: DTOUCHMarc Jacobs is stressed. This is not only because the man who resists
a retrospective is being forced to reflect on the 30th anniversary of
his business. Or because his friend Grace Coddington is about to
publish a coffee-table book, Marc Jacobs Illustrated, full of her
drawings of those 30 years, and she made him reflect on each collection. No, his
stress is much more fundamental than that. Marc is getting married in two days,
and he’s having trouble writing his vows. He’s just run through a week’s worth
of attempts with his psychiatrist, and all that achieved was reinforcing his
conviction that only action has meaning for him. Words are just words.
He’s always been like that. Marc Jacobs is responsible for some of my most
vivid memories in fashion, show after spectacular show, but he’s never been the
kind of designer to give you a post-show blow-by-blow. He has always done unto
others as he would have them do unto him. “I never sat down with a musician
I appreciated and asked, ‘What was the meaning of that song?’” he says. “I never
asked Ed Ruscha, ‘Why did you paint that particular word?’” He insists all he
cares about is what you think. So, full disclosure: I’m a rabid fan. I can’t think of
many other designers who have so successfully channelled their conviction into
dozens of catwalk stories peopled with gorgeous characters. Marc is a true believer,
and if you love fashion, his belief is yours too.
But it’s not only a 30th anniversary and Grace’s book and a wedding that have
conspired to create a This Is Your Life moment for Marc. He’s just photographed
his new beauty campaign with Lila Grace Moss, whose mother has been a key
player in the Jacobs saga. “Kate was a child when she did my grunge show,” Jacobs
remembers. “She insisted, even though she was ill and she’d said no to everyone
else in New York. That’s how we established this friendship that went on to >Restlessly inventive and always provocative,
Marc Jacobs has redefined
American cool for the past three decades.
Tim Blanks talks to the visionary designer.
Portrait by Steven Meisel.
Illustrations by Grace Coddington08-19-Well-MarcJacobs.indd 145 10/06/2019 13:51