Pleasure and pain — or just pain? Marc Jacobs, one of fashion’s great showmen, talks about the emotional business of reshaping his brand
I first met Marc Jacobs in July during couture week. Paris was broiling and Jacobs, 52, was agitating a bandaged hand, the result of an infection brought on by his compulsive nail-biting. It was painful, but it wasn’t impacting on his compulsive nicotine addiction, a habit he could still feed at 10-second intervals.
The meeting had been arranged following the announcement of a radical restructure at the brand he founded, with Robert Duffy, in 1984. In March it was announced that Marc by Marc Jacobs, the diffusion line that followed the Marc Jacobs label in 2001 (and which reportedly went on to account for about 70 per cent of the house’s sales) would be merged with his eponymous label. Jacobs would remain creative director of a business streamlined into a one-man, one-brand entity.