Marc Jacobs By Adrienne Torre
EARLY LIFE • Born in New York city in 1963 • Father died and mother had 3 marriages • Lived with grandmother who was his greatest influence • “I always say I lived my life with my grandmother” • “She was emotionally stable, and she was very encouraging to me.”
1980s • • • •
Graduated from the High School of Art and Design Studied at Parsons School of Design Awarded three of the school’s highest honors Met Robert Duffy who enlisted Jacobs to design for Reuben Thomas’ subsidiary label, Sketchbook • Duffy and Jacobs established partnership • 1985- Marc Jacobs Label • 1987 awarded CFDA as youngest designer to do so
PERRY ELLIS • Duffy and Jacobs joined the sportswear label as vice president and president • Jacobs was had a successful tenure where he employed then-unknown Tom Ford • After Jacobs and Duffy showed their “grunge” collection in 1993 they were dismissed • Won the Women’s Designer of the Year award from the CFDA the same year
Marc Jacobs International Co. • 1993 Jacobs and Duffy launched • 1994 Jacobs showed his comeback collection • Collection supported by Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell
Louis Vuitton • Named creative director of Louis Vuitton in January 1997 • Created the house’s first read-to-wear clothing line • LVMH allowed him financial freedom to expand his own business • Within ten years, Jacobs quadrupled the company’s profits • Turned a luggage firm into a global fashion powerhouse • Exhibition of his work staged at Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris
Marc by Marc Jacobs • Jacobs secondary line introduced in the spring of 2001
Life Struggles • Sought treatment for alcohol and drug addiction twice • “It’s a cliché, but when I drank I was taller, funnier, smarter, cooler.” • “I would come into work and fall straight to sleep, and then I would tell everyone to come in on a Saturday because we were behind, and then I wouldn’t show up.”
Awards • Awarded CFDA’s Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement prize • As of 2011, CFDA had crowned Jacobs Womenswear Designer of the Year three times • Accessory Designer of the Year four times • Menswear designer of the Year once