European Fashion Heritage Association

Journal Runway Archive

Louis Vuitton: the Marc Jacobs’ years

18.04.2018
contemporary fashionFrench fashionrunway

The personality behind the modern myth

Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer, who served as artistic director of Louis Vuitton for many years, till 2014, when he left to concentrate on the brand that bears his name.

Jacobs was appointed at Louis Vuitton in 1997, where he created the first ready-to-wear line of the maison. During the twelve-year period, he developed special projects and collaborations with many artists and designers, and heavily contributed to the growth of the fashion house. He played woth the most regcognisable codes of the history of the maison, using them to refresh the identity of the brand itself and projecting it on the global platform.

Jacobs has always been interested in the idea of performing, and fashion is a big part of the performances he references to. For his last collection at Louis Vuitton, Jacobs recreated some of the sets from his sixteen years at the maison. The clothes on the runway were all black, with feathers, beads and glitters, and the collection was dedicated – as stated in the press release – “to the showgirl in all of us.”

The show was closed by model Edie Campbell, who stepped on the runway with a transparent body-suit covered in writings that reminded one of the artistic collaborations, that between Stephen Sprouse and LV, promoted by Jacobs, wearing a big feathered headpiece, chains and handcuffs.