>> Marc Jacobs may have had to cancel his legendary holiday party, but he made up for it last night by throwing not one, but three parties to celebrate the new Louis Vuitton-Stephen Sprouse redux collection. Marc — in his recent skirt and military boot uniform, plus a pair of neon pink and black Sprouse tights — hosted guests like Donna Karan, Erin Wasson, Chanel Iman — sporting some new bangs — and Arlenis Sosa Pena in the Louis Vuitton SoHo store for cocktails, then directed everyone down to Deitch Projects, which is currently hosting a Sprouse exhibit. To round out the night, an after-party at The Bowery Ballroom, featuring a performance by Sprouse muse Debbie Harry.
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lorenzo martone
Louis Vuitton's Sprouse Party Troika
Marc Jacobs's New Nose, No-Nonsense Sensibility
>> As Marc Jacobs evolved from dorky Marc to Marc the personality, he's acquired a fake tan, muscles, a new diet, over thirty tattoos . . . and apparently a new nose. No word on when it was done, but his nose was "made broader by artificial means." Why? According to Marc, "I walked into a door once, and I thought it looked really hot."
As for Lorenzo Martone, Marc's current boyfriend — he doesn't have to worry about competition from Marc's ex-boyfriend Jason Preston:
"I’ve had boyfriends who were media whores, and, God bless them, they were great people. I shouldn’t have said that; that wasn’t nice to say. I was in a relationship for the past couple of years with someone who loved the attention of the media. I don’t want to make the same mess again."
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Marc Jacobs Dances the Scandal Away
>> A bribery scandal is no shirt off Marc Jacobs's back — he's been captured out at events with Lorenzo Martone the last three nights in a row. The $1 million settlement might have contributed to the cancellation of his annual holiday bash this year, but that doesn't mean Marc still can't party — in moderation, of course. When Solange Knowles got up to perform at the Mango flagship reopening party with a "Put on your Mango dress and dance, honey!" Marc and Lorenzo obliged by dancing front row, kissing and taking pictures, too — Marc was wearing his skirt, after all.
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>> INSIDER WIRE —Marc Jacobs doesn't seem the jealous type, but hopefully he's not — his former fling, porn star Erik Rhodes, was spotted chatting with the designer's current boyfriend Lorenzo Martone Friday night at Mr. Black. Maybe they're all "just friends." [FWD]
Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone Weather Rumors with Hugs
>> Marc Jacobs may have been back in his favorite skirt last night, but new rumors imply that he wears the pants in his relationship with Lorenzo Martone — and that he misses ex-flame Jason Preston. When Marc and Lorenzo went to a movie recently, a source says Lorenzo carried Marc's bag and sat where the designer told him to: "Marc was in charge of him." And when the couple showed up to a party thrown by Jason recently, "Marc was glaring" at Jason and his new boyfriend — "Marc is jealous of their relationship" and "still meddling in his ex's life." Funny, because last night at Dolce & Gabbana's movie screening for Madonna, Lorenzo and Marc looked pretty happy.
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>> INSIDER WIRE —Marc Jacobs and his Brazilian advertising exec boyfriend of four months, Lorenzo Martone, are still going strong — the two were snapped wearing matching white button-downs and embracing at the designer's after party last night on the Greenwich Hotel terrace. [Guest of a Guest]
Marc Jacobs Isn't Married, and Other Sundry Tidbits from The New Yorker
>> After that rampant Marc Jacobs marriage rumor that made major Internet waves last month, we finally have confirmation that it didn't happen. In The New Yorker's Sept. 1 issue, Ariel Levy's profile of Marc bluntly states: "Last month, Page Six misreported that Jacobs had married Martone." So, no marriage, but there is plenty of other insight to be had about Marc's relationship with Lorenzo Martone, his new "addiction," and all that attention he's been getting.
Lorenzo was upset about all the tabloid coverage their relationship gets; Marc told him to "man up" and ignore it.
"Last Tuesday, [Page Six] had me making out with my ex-boyfriend Jason Preston at Pastis and bad-mouthing someone I went out with for four days. Well, first of all, I did not bad-mouth the person I went out with for four days, second of all I was not getting back together with Jason Preston, and, fourth—or first!—of all, I wasn't even in the city of New York on that Saturday! I was in Paris, France. My current boyfriend said, 'Marc, you know I don't believe it, but so many people have asked me about it.' I was, like, 'You put me on a plane Friday night! How can you be listening to this?'"
Instead of cocaine or alcohol, the gym has become Marc's addiction.
"Everything is beautiful at the gym, everyone looks amazing. You just think it's like one big healthy circus going on out there: the bodies are great, people are jolly, and, even when they're complaining about how strenuous it is, there's, like, a kind of very good, positive, we're-all-doing-something-good-for-ourselves . . . And it's two and a half hours that I'm not smoking. I am a true addict in that whatever makes me feel good I want more of, whether it's good for me or not."
[break]Anna Wintour sounds off on Marc! »[/break]
The gym has helped bring him attention, which he loves.
"I'm really happy with the way I look when I look at myself in the mirror. I spend hours in the bathroom now. I used to spend five minutes! But I like taking a shower. I like shampooing my hair. I like putting on moisturizer. I like wearing jewelry . . . I like the fact that people are sort of commenting on my appearance. I work on these things! So to have them recognized, even if sometimes I don't like the way they're recognized, I like that they are, and I feel good that I can admit that, instead of being ashamed. I'm going to get a 'shameless' tattoo next. That's what I think everyone should aspire to in life: being shameless."
He's gotten so much attention, in fact, some people even think he's a rock star.
In market research conducted for Daisy, a perfume he was introducing (named after one of his dogs), women at a mall in the Midwest were asked if they'd heard of Marc Jacobs. Many said yes, but when they were asked who he was, they often replied "a rock star" or "an actor" rather than "a fashion designer." Probably, they had noticed his name in a gossip column.
All the attention and success doesn't make him infallible, according to his business partner of 24 years, Robert Duffy.
"You never know what's going to trigger something. He's hypersensitive, and so insecure. About his talent he's so insecure."
But he's secure enough to skip out on the CFDA Awards early.
Jacobs said later that he and his celebrity entourage had gone to meet David Beckham at Nobu. "It's been years since I've wanted to go to the CFDA Awards. I feel a bit obliged, and, again, when I go against what I feel and do what I'm obliged to do, I'm always unhappy."
Marc funds all those art purchases of his by "borrowing large sums of money," according to Robert Duffy.
"He was buying art until I was, like, 'Marc, stop! You've got to pay your taxes!"
Through thick and thin, Anna Wintour still thinks Marc is swell.
"Marc is a great, great designer — his talent is stronger than it's ever been before — but he also has a very acute sense of how to deal with the media, how to use the media. If you look at the kind of women he's drawn to, whether it's Sofia Coppola or Lindsay Lohan, he always taps in to them at exactly the right time. To be honest, I don't think Marc would be in the press the way he is if he didn't want to be."
Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone Get Their Beach On With Kate Moss
>> Honeymoon or not, Marc Jacobs and Lorenzo Martone have landed off the coast of Ibiza in Formentera, spending some quality time with Kate Moss and Lila Grace on the beach yesterday. Lorenzo may not have "Marc Jacobs" tattooed on his forearm like Marc's former beau Jason Preston, but he did show his brand loyalty by carrying a Richard Prince Louis Vuitton for a beach bag.
Lila Grace looked shy while Kate and Lorenzo were chatting it up, but she pulled out a camera to snap a portrait of the group later. Kate, Sir Philip Green, and now Marc Jacobs — the Ibiza area is definitely still the fashion vacation destination of choice.
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>> INSIDER WIRE —Still no word on the rampant Marc Jacobs-Lorenzo Martone marriage rumor. One source says they were married in a civil solidarity pact on Sunday, while another says there was no marriage. [Page Six, Perez Hilton]
Is He or Isn't He? Marc Jacobs, Married?
>> Late last week, Fashionista got a tip that Marc Jacobs was to be married this past weekend in Paris to his Brazilian beau of three months, Lorenzo Martone.
However, the designer was confirmed to be at the Louis Vuitton offices in Paris earlier today by a member of the brand's press office, and working doesn't seem very much like typical newlywed behavior. In fact, the LV rep told Fashion Week Daily: "They're just rumors. There's no truth to it at all." And Marc Jacobs' New York rep sang the same tune: "Marc did not get married — nor does he have any plans to."
Same-sex marriage is not currently legal in France, but civil unions known as PACS, which can bring some rights to same-sex couples, are allowed. Word is that Marc and Lorenzo did host a brunch yesterday in Paris to "celebrate their relationship," and are off to Ibiza together in August. No word, however, as to whether that celebration was a marriage and the Ibiza trip is a honeymoon, or if they're just a simple party and vacation.
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