Marc by Marc Jacobs blue and orange sunglasses NWOT

Award-winning American designer Marc Jacobs is known for a pop culture-inspired aesthetic that combines elements of grunge, preppiness and couture for pieces with broad appeal. His vintage bags, jackets and more are sophisticated yet edgy, and he was instrumental in modernizing esteemed luxury house Louis Vuitton. He introduced the company’s inaugural ready-to-wear line for women and men and even reimagined its logo while simultaneously growing his signature brand, which is today celebrated for its innovative reinterpretations of classic designs, bright colors and oversize prints. He introduced his Marc by Marc Jacobs collection in 2001.

Marc Jacobs was born in New York City in 1963. His father died when he was seven years old and he went on to live with his grandmother who deeply encouraged his creative spirit. He attended the High School of Art and Design while working at cult Manhattan clothing boutique Charivari. In his role as a stockboy at the store, he met designer Perry Ellis, who suggested he attend the Parsons School of Design. He did so, and for his senior thesis project at the school, Jacobs designed sweaters emblazoned with Op art graphics that earned him considerable attention from the fashion industry.

In 1984, Jacobs and his friend and business partner Robert Duffy launched the Marc Jacobs label. A year later, Jacobs received the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent. In 1997, Jacobs was named the creative director of Louis Vuitton, a position he held until 2014. He pushed the brand forward through collaborations with major contemporary artists and designers like Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince and Yayoi Kusama. This cooperative model has become a mainstay of the brand.

While helping the venerable luxury house earn accolades — and scores of new fans — for partnerships that melded fashion with art, Jacobs was also working on his namesake projects. He continued to design for his flagship line and debuted Marc by Marc Jacobs lin the spring of 2001.

The diffusion line was a quirky collection that offered sportswear, drew on military style and streetwear, and targeted fashion-conscious consumers who sought affordable garments. While it was shuttered and folded into the designer’s main brand in 2015, Jacobs has since gone on to introduce beauty, fragrance and children’s lines. In 2020, he launched Heaven. A collaboration with Australian-born Ava Nirui — the art director at Jacobs’s flagship brand — the line comprises gender-neutral skirts, chokers and other garments and accessories that are aimed at a younger audience and are inspired by our era’s renewed appreciation for 1990s fashion.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America named Jacobs the Accessories Designer of the Year four times. The organization named him the Menswear Designer of the Year in 2002 — he was also honored with a plaque on the Fashion Walk of Fame in Midtown Manhattan that year — and the Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2016. 

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