Marc Jacobs

One of the worlds best known contemporary fashion designers, Marc Jacobs was born into a Jewish family in New York, U.S.A. in 1963. He lived with his grandmother for a time as a teenager and credits her with being “the biggest influence in life”.

As a fifteen year old he worked in the stockroom for trendy boutique Charivari and it was here he was allowed to design a range of knitwear for the store. He attended the New York High School of Art and Design and won a host of prestigious awards graduating in 1981. Jacobs continued his studies at Parsons School of Design where he won some of the schools highest honours including Design Student of the Year.

In 1986 backed by Onward Kashiyama USA Inc. Jacobs designed his first collection bearing the Marc Jacobs label, the following year he became the youngest ever designer to be awarded the fashion industries highest accolade, The Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent.

Jacobs famous “Grunge” collection for Perry Ellis in 1993 brought him to the forefront of the fashion industry, loved by the critics, but disliked by the company, it led to Jacobs leaving. The designer has not been afraid of bucking the trend in fashion design, producing contemporary clothes that people want to wear. His ad campaigns have featured the rich and famous such as Victoria Beckham, Winona Ryder and Charlotte Rampling to name just a few. Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista have modelled his clothes for free. In 1994 he produced his first full menswear collection.

Louis Vuitton appointed Jacobs as their Creative Director in 1997 when he created their first ready-to-wear line, he also works on their shoes, handbags and luxury accessories and in 1999 was named Accessory Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

The Marc Jacobs Home Collection was launched in 2003 and began as a limited line of luxury accessories that has since grown to include crystal, silver, and cashmere pillows and is sold exclusively at Jacobs boutique shops. Marc Jacobs now has stores across the world including Paris, London, Madrid, New York, San Francisco, Boston USA and numerous outlets across Japan, China and the Middle East. In recent years he has introduced a range of perfumes and watches which have been extremely successful.

In 2007 Jacobs was named in ‘OUT’ magazines list of the 50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America and controversially in 2009 produced a t shirt demanding the legalization of gay marriage. In 2010 he was included in Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

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