Marc Jacobs’s Spring Collection Was Five Minutes in Fashion Heaven
At the New York Public Library tonight, a master class was in session. With Tracee Ellis Ross, Bowen Yang, Nara Smith, and Sofia Coppola in attendance, Marc Jacobs got going early (as he is wont to do) and kicked off New York Fashion Week a few days before its official start. Jacobs took “courage” as his watchword this season, and he presented a collection that proved beauty can be a shot across the bow in the darkest of times.
The runway was full of Marc signatures: extreme plays on volume, striking color combinations, and wonderfully oddball touches (this time around, that meant flats with uber-extended, pointy toes and exaggerated, cartoon-character pumps and boots). Jacobs’s recent penchant for extreme paper doll-like fantasy was evident here, as he tinkered with proportion and depth. Details like expertly curled ribbons, extra-large paillettes, and slightly off-kilter doctor’s bags, their leather twisted and puckered, added to the sense of playfulness—as did Pat McGrath’s exaggerated pouts.
As for what all this has to do with courage? The designer often posts on Instagram with the hashtag #GratefulNotHateful, and tonight he seemed to be trying to channel that spirit. “Guided by heart, humility, and gratitude, I have come to understand that fear is not my enemy—it is a necessary companion to creativity, authenticity, integrity, and life,” Jacobs wrote in his show notes. The point of this kind of imagining is not, he insists, “to escape from reality, but to help navigate, understand, and confront it—exploring through curiosity, conviction, compassion, and love.”
The show was short and sweet, ending with a parade of dresses that boasted supersized shoulders and skirts, or avant-garde padded silhouettes. And speaking of love: Fresh from her catwalk strut with Gabbriette during Charli XCX’s Grammys performance last night, Alex Consani closed the show in a puffy red Valentine of a dress. Once again, Jacobs was fashionably early.
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