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Marc Jacobs makes news with his every move, but the designer sent serious shockwaves through the industry at the end of September fashion week when he disclosed that he would be leaving his position at Louis Vuitton to concentrate on his namesake label. The move came in anticipation of an IPO; Jacobs was replaced by Nicolas Ghesquière.
Jacobs spoke on the record with trade pub Women's Wear Daily about the change, revealing that he's signed a "huge" new contract with his label's parent company, LVMH. Over three pages, he discusses how he feels as a New Yorker in Paris, inspirations for his last Vuitton collection and his most recent Marc Jacobs show, and the role longtime business partner Robert Duffy played in the Vuitton decision. He also says that his newly-renewed focus on his own label means that he'll expand into more categories.
When pressed for specifics, Jacobs said:
Robert and I—Robert is a very good businessman and very nurturing as a human being. His qualities are beyond in every way. But we have never sat down and strategically planned out what's the next three, five years. That's not how we operate. It's like, "What do we want to do next? We want to do sweaters for dogs and call it 'Bark Jacobs.' If it works, great. If it doesn't, we'll drop it and do something different." There have been ideas that Robert and I have had that have been very fruitful—Marc by Marc; Robert's idea of creating special products that were inexpensive and affordable. There are concepts that we both agree on. But there has never been a master plan. I never would have thought 10 years ago that we'd be doing cosmetics. When we did our first perfume, it was like, "This is crazy; I can't believe we're doing a perfume." I don't know what [more] products are. I'm open to the possibility of anything. I do think that in order for a company to be interesting to the investment community, there needs to be a plan; there needs to be a bigger retail footprint. There needs to be this idea—DNA, lifestyle, words I hate.The Marc Jacobs empire currently includes a diffusion line, clothing, accessories, shoes, bags, cosmetics and fragrance as well as book shops. Stay tuned for more.
· The Interviews: Marc Jacobs, The Newsmaker [WWD]
· Louis Vuitton: Nicolas Ghesquière Will Succeed Marc Jacobs [Racked]
· Nicolas Ghesquière Taking Over At Louis Vuitton [Racked]
· See Marc Jacobs' Darkly Whimsical Final Louis Vuitton Show [Racked]