Who Or What Is THE Marc Jacobs? The Man Himself Introduces His New Brand

‘We love everything!’ says Marc Jacobs on the eve of launching his new brand, THE Marc Jacobs. Jacobs is no stranger to calling a spade ‘a spade’, having named his previous sister line Marc by Marc Jacobs. You might just be able to buy a Jacobs-branded spade from this new line anyway, with its emphasis on ‘things’, and collaborations with anyone and everything from Sofia Coppola to New York Magazine and Peanuts.

‘This is more item-y,’ he says, when asked how this is different to the accessibly priced Marc by Marc, which closed in 2015. ‘It’s more about personal styling than about having a runway look.’

This explains what Jacobs means by ‘item-y’ – each piece definitively named ‘The Prairie Skirt’, or ‘The Men’s Shirt’, or ‘The Smock Dress’. ‘All things you could put together to create your look; there’s a freedom to put that with that,’ he adds.

There’s also a freedom to give the finger to conventional design wisdom, no doubt, with the line reintroducing decades-old pieces (not typical in an industry predicated on ‘newness’). ‘But THE Marc Jacobs really isn’t about nostalgia,’ Jacobs says. ‘It’s about things we remember from past collections, and saying, ‘OK, let’s make something like it.’

So, consider it the greatest hits, given a 2k19 spin: dresses from the autumn/winter 2004 mainline, ballet flats from autumn/winter 1998, and the tracksuits beloved by the Jenners from 2017. Along with styles once exclusive to Marc by Marc – with a similarly sweet price tag.

The ‘Things’ – keyrings, phone cases and socks – start at £40, with skirts, sweaters and jeans hovering around £300. ‘They celebrate eclecticism, variety and personal style,’ Jacobs explains. The latter is explicit in the high-low references for which Jacobs has always been known, at his own label, as well as Louis Vuitton, where he was creative director until 2014.

Which is why the Peanuts-branded sweaters and ‘FUN BUNS’ T-shirts will sit in stores alongside the main line’s romantic, blown-out ruffles. And it also explains why this new brand is actually called THE Marc Jacobs.

‘A lot of things inspire me: music, art, pop culture,’ Jacobs says, and this line will serve as an outlet for all of those ideas. So, if you’re wondering who, rather than what, is THE Marc Jacobs? The veritable smorgasbord of ‘things’ you’ll see in store – the Charlie Brown tees, the New York Magazine socks, the T-shirts featuring prints by long-term friends and collaborators – will tell you exactly who he is. ‘The high and low, the everyday and the re.marc.able.'