Marc Jacobs’s Fall Collection is a Stunning Couture-Street Fusion

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Choice–a word of major resonance right now. Surely that clicked with Marc Jacobs when he invoked it to open his program notes. His inclusion in the collection of looks derived from hospital scrubs must have registered similarly. Though it’s doubtful (but not impossible) that Jacobs dreamed those up since Friday, the anticipated end of Roe v. Wade had loomed large for some time.

Jacobs is not one to wear his politics nakedly on his runway. Yet he always wears his passions there, and often those passions reflect the cultural moment. How could they not? He did so again on Monday night with a beautiful, strangely flamboyant collection, shown at the New York Public Library. “Choice…Amidst unexpected obstacles…my sentiment is unwavering – creativity is essential to living,” he wrote.

Photo credit: Marc Jacobs

For Jacobs, that is a lifelong tenet. Many years ago, when he was an unemployed 20-something after getting the axe from Perry Ellis, he told me that creativity was the most important thing to him, that the ultimate reach of his work mattered less than the process and fact of its creation. (I’m paraphrasing; it was a long time ago.) He still feels that way. He believes not in the ability of creativity to erase societal maladies, but to help us through them. To that end, decades in, he remains fearless.

In his new collection exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman, that fearlessness wore a stunning couture-street fusion, just one of the dualities that carried through. Another: a joyful palette–Lavender! Hot pink! Periwinkle!–worn by models with a cyborg aura, including some whose heads appeared to have been partially shaved. (They weren’t; the look was achieved with some very real-looking hairstyling wizardy overseen by Duffy.)

Photo credit: Marc Jacobs

The clothes were euphoric–mega-fashion that took familiar tropes to extraordinary destinations. Jean jackets and vests; cargo and carpenter skirts; classic outerwear–Jacobs manipulated all into arresting silhouettes that belied their pragmatic roots with rich, intriguing references to Cristobal Balenciaga and Charles Frederick Worth. He added in some gowns that were actual gowns, including one fantastical number in pink sequined foil, and some straightforward black tailoring. The sweaters were gems, giant, puffy new-fangled ribbed twinsets–on Kendall Jenner, a blue pullover with cardigan tied at the hips; on Gigi Hadid, a pink vest with shoulder-wrapped cardigan. As for the scrubs, he worked them in waxed leather, with voluminous, side-shirred pants.

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Along the way, Jacobs reprised some themes from last June’s show, including the monogram, now more “discreet” in low-contrast tones, and, in the case of a draped, tiered multi-pastel ballgown, the letters blown up beyond recognition. He also reprised last year’s alluring disc motif, here in a silver metallic open-back dress over a white tee and black jeans.

Photo credit: Marc Jacobs

It was all arresting, the kind of clothes that speak to true fashion lovers–those who feel a rush to their emotional core at the prospect of exquisite discovery. That demographic exists only in limited numbers, but it exists everywhere. Yet these clothes are unavailable to people who do not live in or come to New York to shop. (Yes, online shopping is swell, but many of these pieces scream cut-to-order.) That they are available at all is a testament to the guts and foresight of Bergdorf Goodman president Darcy Penick, and the tenacity and stalwart belief in fashion of the store’s senior VP and Store Presentation Director (read: legendary fashion director) Linda Fargo. Their motivation is clear–they want to bring their customers exciting, exclusive fashion.

But what’s up with LVMH’s approach to its Marc Jacobs business? The brand is doing extremely well. On Monday, the trade publication Business of Fashion ran a thoughtful, comprehensive piece by chief correspondent Lauren Sherman reporting on plans to open 20 stores over the next 18 month and hit $1 billion in yearly fashion and accessories sales within five years. Given the label’s acknowledged lack of emphasis on runway, as noted in the story, it’s likely that those stores will be all contemporary. Some may be fully dedicated to Heaven, the charming sister line designed by Ava Niuri. Perhaps some will be outlets, an area of significant focus. As of June 28th, Simon Properties’ Premium Outlet website listed 32 Marc Jacobs brand outlet stores.

Photo credit: Marc Jacobs

All of which is great—with a great big caveat. On Monday night, one of fashion’s biggest celebrities staged a collection of major, impactful fashion that will be available to potential clients in one market only. While it’s risky (and perhaps foolish) to question LVMH–it didn’t get to be LVMH by making mistakes, after all–one must wonder why the luxury group doesn’t see a market for Jacobs’ most elevated clothes across the United States, let alone around the world. And Bergdorf’s, you have a famous, multi-door parent, no? Perhaps you could arrange trunk-show visits for some locations, say Los Angeles or–I don’t know–Dallas?

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