Anyone looking to read Marc Jacobs’s future in the tea leaves of his Spring 2027 show, which was also the first runway show the designer had held after LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group, sold his brand to WHP Global, the owner of Express and G-Star, might have, at first, been scratching their head.
Was it, as speculation had gone, his last show?
WHP and its partner in the Jacobs purchase, G-III, after all, may have stated their commitment to the runway, but each also own such names as Donna Karan (G-III) and Vera Wang (WHP), and neither of those storied New York Fashion Week brands show anymore. The Jacobs show notes did acknowledge “uncertain moments.”
Was it, rather, proof that nothing much would really change?
Perhaps. The show was, after all, in the New York Public Library, Jacobs’s favored post-pandemic lockdown location. It was very fast, as usual. And the notes included the nods to influences past — Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz,” the YSL spring/summer 1993 show, his own work for Louis Vuitton — that have become a Jacobs signature (and a great one; more designers should follow his lead and acknowledge their antecedents).
But maybe the most obvious clue was on everybody’s chair: a bright yellow bag full of Marc Jacobs makeup products, recently reintroduced under an agreement with Coty. It’s the accessible brand extensions, baby.
In case there was any doubt about the designer’s color sense, what ensued was essentially four minutes of chromatic fun in the form of transparent layers in cellophane, vinyl and sheer knits, mixed and matched for all to see.
It started with slithery jeans and button-ups in peach and chocolate, worn over tights and tank tops to add dimension to the shades; continued on through a butter yellow camp shirt with muddy micro shorts over a neon orange body suit. There was an A-line prom dress in iridescent lavender with periwinkle bras and undies built-in atop a mustard jersey Tee and amethyst tights. A grape croc-embossed leather mini with a sky-blue bustier (pretty much the same blue as the eyeliner in each bag, by the way) over a sheer dusty rose undershirt and caramel tights.
You get the idea. It was a whole cosmetic palette in a wardrobe. Can’t buy the slip dress? Buy the lipstick and eye shadow instead.
Belts were clear plastic and dripping with chains, necklaces were loaded up and chunky and many looks came without any pants at all. That was a nod to Prada’s spring/summer 2007 show, when Miuccia Prada had been dissatisfied with her bottoms and dropped them from the show at the last minute, as well as the Chanel spring/summer 1993 show, when Karl Lagerfeld sent out models in men’s briefs and Chanel chain belts. It was also a strategic choice.
It served as a reminder that when Jacobs wants, he can stick his thumb in the air and figure out which way the wind is blowing. And make some really good stuff.
See-through, after all, is turning into a trend — see the recent Prada and Dior men’s shows, as well as Anthony Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent — and this was a pretty easy version of the idea. But best of all were the jackets: collarless, slightly flared at the waist and trimmed in Rococo swirls of micro-pleated cellophane. Pair ‘em with jeans (rather than tights and heels, as they were shown) or a pencil skirt, and you could go pretty much anywhere.
These are clothes that should be worn, not just used to sell makeup. Recently, Jacobs’s runway line has been sold only at Bergdorf Goodman to a very select few. Here’s hoping that the change in ownership changes that, too.
