fashionologie

Marc Jacobs on His "Great Talent" and Trying to Top the Last Louis Vuitton Show

fashionologie — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:54:00 PDT

>> In anticipation of his Lifetime Achievement Award, which he will receive during the CFDA Awards Monday, Marc Jacobs (who notes of the award, "It’s not my achievement, number one. It is Marc Jacobs as a company") sat down with WWD to wax philosophical on everything from Alexander Wang to Twitter to whether he considers himself a "great talent."

Highlights from the interview, below.

On what he did for Memorial Day: “Memorial Day? I don’t think I’ve had a Memorial Day off in 30 years. We’re all here [at the office]. The design team’s here, working through Saturday, Sunday, Monday. I’ll go to the gym every morning, but I’ll be here after the gym. It’s resort.”

On his success and being recognized in public and approached by fans: "I can’t help but remember the days when Robert [Duffy, his business partner] and I were interviewed for 48 Hours [in 1988]. Robert was building a runway. I’m vomiting in the bathroom because we hadn’t slept in three days and we were delirious and hallucinating. So none of that ever goes away."

On whether he's a "great talent": "No. I still wouldn’t say I am ... I don’t mind if you say it but I’m not going to say it myself."

On winning this year's CFDA Lifetime Achievement award: "I haven’t even sat down to write the [CFDA] speech yet but I’ve been thinking a lot about it, about what does this mean to me and what does this mean to us. I just turned 48 but I don’t feel 48. I still feel like a young person but I really see the difference in the work. I’m trying to understand what all of that means and how I feel about it."

On younger designers: "People ask me about the younger designers, Alex Wang and all of them, I think they’re great. I couldn’t do what they do. It’s not what I do. But just like in pop music and in the art world, people always want new work from the artist that they like but they also want new artists. I don’t think one changes the other. There’s always room for new designers, new musicians, new artists, new writers. Madonna, I don’t think is showing any signs of slowing down, but that doesn’t mean Lady Gaga isn’t taking over the world."

On the most recent Louis Vuitton show: "I loved the Vuitton show. I think as a show it was probably my favorite presentation we’ve ever done of a collection. I really loved it ... I’ve spent the past two weeks, which is superpremature, thinking that I don’t know what we’re going to do to top that last Vuitton show. I thought it was the most beautiful presentation. I think, 'Why am I doing this to myself?' but it’s inevitable. When I get back to Paris two weeks from now, I’m just going to be like, 'What are we going to do? What are we going to do?' The answer won’t come right away."

On designers he admires: "I think the greatest contributors to fashion are women. Chanel, Vionnet. I think Vivienne Westwood; I think Miuccia Prada; Schiaparelli, Rei Kawakubo ... The one that I probably feel the most strongly about is Miuccia, because of the aesthetic and the mood. There’s something so shocking and so tender about it, and it’s also very real ... There’s an eccentricity but there’s also a chic old world sophistication, but it’s so new. It’s young but never vulgar. There’s a sex appeal that’s kind of naïve. It’s all the things I love."

On his debt to Tom Ford: "I felt that [being hired for Vuitton] was all born from Tom [Ford’s] success at Gucci. I believe Mr. Arnault was aware of that and said, 'We can do that with Vuitton.'"

On working for Bernard Arnault: "I meet with Mr. Arnault every time I’m in Paris. He’s such a hands-on sort of guy. He goes to every store in every country and he discusses things with me ... He was thrilled with the last [Vuitton] show. He felt that one and the one around the fountain were how he would like women to see Vuitton’s image as a fashion brand. He’s very up front and honest with me about what he likes and what he doesn’t like, what he thinks works and also what he thinks works in other places. Not that he’s asking me to do what someone else does, but to look at the success of certain things."

On the resources available to him at Louis Vuitton: "If you look at our first Vuitton show, we wanted to send out a nice collection of simple clothes with all the logos on the inside and one single bag on Kirsten Owen. It has evolved into, ‘OK, this is Paris. Let’s have three elevators.’ I asked for six; I got three. So we’re like, ‘Let’s get Kate Moss, Naomi [Campbell]. Let’s fly in Stella [Tennant]. Let’s fly in Carolyn [Murphy] and Amber [Valletta].’ You want a show? Okay guys, I’ll give you a show."

On critics: "You are dealing with a whole lot of highly sensitive people who [will react] depending on their mood and how they’re feeling that day or what they did or didn’t eat for lunch. I have no problem going on record with this and probably have gone on record with this before, there aren’t that many people who I respect. There just aren’t. I think journalists have the right to their opinions but I think their opinions should be based on history and what they see, not what they feel, how long they’ve been waiting or whether it’s raining or it’s snowing or whatever."

On whether traditional media matters anymore: "I’m not sure it does as much as it used to, and I’m not sure how much it ever did ... [But] I feel like it affects the energy of all of us. In fashion we all gossip about it because within our community it’s extremely important. I think it breaks momentum or a sort of energy when there’s harsh criticism, and I think when the critique is positive, we all feel quite robust and we’re out there. In that way, it has an effect. But in another, I think a woman’s going to go into a shop to find a coat or a jacket and I just don’t think she’s not going to go into a shop because of a bad review she probably didn’t even read."

On joining Twitter: "I’ve got better things to do. I don’t need to talk to like schoolteachers from New Jersey about what was valid [in a collection] and what was invalid and what was derivative and what was referencing. I mean, I’ve just got work to do. I really don’t care to argue with you."

Comme des Garcons Fall 2011

fashionologie — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 10:33:40 PST

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Manish Arora Confirmed as Paco Rabanne Creative Director

fashionologie — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:22:35 PST

>> The rumor has been confirmed: Manish Arora is the new creative director of Paco Rabanne, and will show his first collection for the label in October during Paris Fashion Week - for Spring 2012. He will also continue his colorful signature collection, which is also shown in Paris but sells mostly in his native India.

The founding designer Rabanne has been consulting on the relaunch, which was kickstarted last month with the reissuing of the brand's iconic 1969 chain-mail bag, done in collaboration with Comme des Garcons's Rei Kawakubo. Those collaborations are expected to continue - next up is Judy Blame, who in March will unveil a collection of jewelry and his take on the chain-mail bag for the brand.

Vincent Thilloy, Puig VP overseeing Rabanne, said that the founder is looking to “transmit this brand to a new generation,” adding: “I think people are looking for brands with great heritage - and stories to tell. It’s a perfect time to come back.” And Arora, who is charged with bringing fashion back to the brand that shuttered ready-to-wear in 2006, says he is committed to Rabanne's heritage: "It’s very easy to use unorthodox materials, but not to do it with this kind of workmanship."

Fashion in 50 Seconds 12/07/09 Channeling Kate Moss

coutorture — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:32:01 PST

Lindsay Lohan channels Kate Moss in 18-page Muse editorial.

A.F. Vandevorst designers An Vandevorst and Filip Arickx will launch a diffusion collection called A Friend at their guerrilla store in Antwerp.

Sophie Theallet selects Oscar de la Renta as her industry mentor provided by the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.

Christopher Bailey visits Buckingham Palace.

Rei Kawakubo designs a limited edition Comme des Garçons Barbie.

Lady Gaga performs in spring 2007 Gareth Pugh.

Seventy five dresses from Victoria Beckham's spring collection were stolen on route to Neiman Marcus.

New York magazine's 35 short-lived trends from the past decade includes Uggs, trucker hats, and Crocs.

Source: ONTD

Juerger Teller Loves Wearing Short Satin Shorts Thanks to a Marc Jacobs Campaign

fashionologie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:44:36 PDT

>> Juergen Teller wore an oversized white T-shirt and super-short blue satin shorts edged with white piping for a recent interview with the Independent - a practice he apparently picked up on the set of the Spring 2004 Marc Jacobs campaign shoot he did with Charlotte Rampling: "I got to Paris, and to my complete horror I couldn't fit into any of the clothes. I was too fat." Juergen had chosen to shot himself for Jacobs's menswear that season, but the only piece he could fit into was a pair of silver satin shorts. The decision was made, and supposedly, he's worn the style religiously since.

Photographing "dead things" and being "frightened" by Winona Ryder »

Quote Of The Day: Suzy Menkes On Rei Kawakubo

coutorture — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:58:02 PDT

“

Ms Kawakubo, 66, is one of the great fashion forces from the last decades of the 20th century to now. Integral to her success is that she is too original to be pigeonholed - although others may see her as a symbol of feminism, judging her by the chic severity of an unvarnished face under a straight fringe, complex but plain clothes and flat shoes.

”"Positive Energy: Comme at 40", The International Herald Tribune

Alexander McQueen Perpetuates That Enfant Terrible Streak

fashionologie — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:37:03 PDT

>> Alexander McQueen, famously outspoken, spoke out in an interview for the Spring 2009 issue of Numero Homme (#17), and started by giving his interviewer, Numero editor at large Philip Utz, and fashion journalism as a whole, a dressing-down: "[it's a] thinly-veiled exercise in marketing." Then, he moved on to the British Fashion Council - "[it] doesn't know what the f*ck it's doing" - and another one of his favorite subjects to disparage - Hubert de Givenchy.

McQueen was the designer for Givenchy from 1997 to 2001, and upon his installation, he declared Hubert de Givenchy's work "irrevelant"; it seems the years have not softened his opinion: "Well what do you make of Hubert de Givenchy? He was only ever any good at ripping off [Cristobal] Balenciaga."

He saves admiration for a select couple »

Quote Of The Day: Wallpaper On Rei Kawakubo

coutorture — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 09:57:40 PST

“

In fact, Kawakubo doesn't do must-haves--nor does she do cocktail parties, nor product launches with champagne, nor shows jostling with celebrity, nor any of the other flirtations with which commercially successful designers are wont to charm their press and public.

”Profile of Rei Kawakubo by Avril Mair. Wallpaper Oct 08.

Paris Fashion Week: Comme des Garçons Spring 2009

coutorture — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:27:37 PST

Paris Fashion Week Comme des Garçons Spring 2009 Photos by Chris Moore

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Fashion In 50 Seconds 11/11/08

coutorture — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:32:58 PST

A record number of shoppers will do their holiday shopping online, causes range from the inanity of black Friday, to gas prices, to an overall growing confidence in e-commerce methods. The numbers, as reported by consultancy Deloitte, should be up to 71 percent with apparel reaching the second most popular gift giving category.

Speaking of Black Friday, H&M's New York and San Francisco flagships will be open 24 hours on the biggest shopping day of the year. H&M attributes their decision to the success of last year, when the New York store held around the clock hours.

(Speaking of the success of H&M, Rei Kawakubo drew a three-day wait this week when her collection for the mass retailer opened in the Harajuku district of Japan)

In other news...Michael Kors took his contemporary shoe business in house, Harold's (not Harrods), the high-end Dallas based retailer, filed Chapter 11 and a 24 hour Paper pop-up (say that three times as fast) in Los Angeles hosted in-demand vendors such as Rodarte and Jeremy Scott--no news on whether they sold everything but they did have a 1400 dollar sale at 4am during the event.