Marc Jacobs Gets Distilled and Dandified for Fall Marc by Marc

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• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: Models walk the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images )
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images )
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: A model walks the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Adva
• NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 15: Models walk the runway at the Marc By Marc Jacobs Fall 2011 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Stage at Lincoln Center on February 15, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Advanc

Yesterday afternoon a mass of Fashion Week's hippest descended upon the State Armory for Marc Jacobs' diffusion line-defining diffusion line Marc by Marc Jacobs and its gigantic Fall/Winter collection. Featuring dozens of looks—both womenswear and menswear—the line-up featured many of the brand's signatures: Retro silhouettes, quirky prints, a playful array of color and texture, ultimate wearability and a sensibility we might have called Downtown if the Downtown sensibility still evoked images of cute and color and humor and irreverence rather than liquid leather leggings, complex footwear and the many shades of Alexander Wang black.

Even more packed than usual, the crowd was absolutely rife with the usual roster of magazines—a lot of Elle especially—a gamut of Asian buyers and several bold-faced bloggers. With the show starting as on time as a fashion show can be—that is 15 or 20 minutes after the hour (or 45 minutes before several of Marc Jacobs' past shows have started)—many slightly-latecomers were reduced to standing in the sight line of photographers in the pit. So, if you were there and you were wondering where those whistles and profanities were coming from—well, there you have it.

But we digress—the collection itself connected nicely to the current spring wares from the designer's slinky, candy-colored main-line. Mostly-lauded, those clothes evoked a sense of shiny, '70s glamor. Six months later, and on looks that cost several hundreds or thousands of dollars less, the Marc by Marc line featured a bookish, dandier version of the '70s: More Woody Allen, Love Story, Kramer vs. Kramer and less Studio 54, Andy Warhol, Halston.

Think longer, waist-cinched party dresses, turtleneck sweaters, a baggier slack with a fitted, high-cut blazer, chevron-stripes and very-slightly alpine banding, stylized Africana prints—silhouettes of crazy-eyed panthers, a sea of antelope, off-color leopard prints—all in a palette of coppers and merlots, marigolds and navy blue, camel and double-breasted tweed.

The soundtrack: Less bookishly '70s. As with all the Marc by Marc shows we've ever attended, yesterday's music was a frenetic mash-up mess of layers and loud. We might have caught a snatch of Mark Ronson—but we can't promise anything.
· All Fashion Week Coverage [Racked]
· Marc by Marc Jacobs [Official Site]