Audio interview with Marc Jacobs, 2015 May 8
Scope and Contents
In this audio recording, fashion designer and Parsons School of Design alumnus Marc Jacobs is interviewed by Joel Towers, executive dean of Parsons, and John Haffner Layden, associate director of messaging and editorial content in The New School's Marketing and Communication unit. Towers and Haffner interview Jacobs by telephone. Jacobs discusses his youthful encounter with fashion designer Perry Ellis who put him on the path to attending Parsons School of Design. He describes his time at Parsons, his creative process as a designer, and his approach to collaboration with artists and use of different art forms. He champions the purpose and value of the live fashion show and the importance of human contact to fashion. Jacobs also elaborates on confidence and insecurity as a fashion designer and the definition of "failure."
Dates
- 2015 May 8
Extent
2 digital_recordings (00:53:47 duration; includes PDF transcript)
Participant Biography
Marc Jacobs is a fashion designer. He worked at Charivari, an avant-garde Manhattan boutique that shuttered in 1999, while he studied at New York City’s High School of Art and Design and later at Parsons School of Design. Jacobs graduated from Parsons in 1984 after receiving both the Perry Ellis Gold Thimble and the Design Student of the Year Awards. Upon graduation, he began to design for Reuben Thomas Inc.’s Sketchbook line. In 1986, he and Robert Duffy began the Marc Jacobs label. Jacobs joined Perry Ellis in 1989, and is still famous for his 1992 grunge line. In 1993, Jacobs and Duffy started Marc Jacobs International, which currently sells women’s, men’s, and children’s fashions, accessories, and books, as well as beauty and fragrance products. Jacobs worked as creative director for Louis Vuitton from 1997 to 2013. He is the recipient of many prestigious awards including the Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People Award (2010) as well as the Council of Fashion Designers of America Women’s Wear Designer of the Year (2010) and Lifetime Achievement (2011) Awards. He is a two-time honoree of the annual Parsons Fashion Benefit.