the de-celebrification of fashion

Marc Jacobs Won’t Have Celebrities at His Show This Season Because They’re ‘Boring’

Marc Jacobs’s business partner, Robert Duffy, says they won’t have any celebrities at the show this season. He told Style.com:


I’m not into the celebrity thing or anything, like we used to do. You know, it’s like, that’s boring. People used to want to come to our shows because of that, and we’ve sort of cut that out the last two seasons just because it was boring.

We might beg to differ, just because the season Posh showed up with her head practically shaved was rather titillating. Last season Marc said he wouldn’t have celebrities either, but then Madonna and Lady Gaga made an appearance at the show anyway.

Gaga was only allowed to go because she asked and was headlining the after-party. However she was late, as she tends to be when she has to paste spikes to her face and still make sure her makeup looks perfect, and the show started before she took her seat. Madonna was only allowed to come because no one can not allow Madonna to do anything.

She came backstage, and I was like, “What do you do with her now?” You know what I mean? Because it’s not like she was invited. She just called and said she was coming, and we weren’t holding the show for her. She just came and that was it.

Duffy doesn’t want Madonna and her ilk to distract from what the show is all about: fashion.

There’s certain things I can’t control, but we used to have all the celebrities and people there, and I think that at that moment in time that’s what people loved. It generated so much press and at a certain point it was like, did anybody actually watch the show? All I ever saw in the press was who was there. So we sort of stopped that and just got back to showing a fashion show, and if people want to come, great.

He was unable to reveal hints about the collection because it comes together so last-minute. But this season, thanks to Duffy’s Twitter overshare, they’re slightly ahead of schedule.

This is the earliest we’ve ever had a concept and the only reason is because I twittered that we didn’t have a concept. Marc was like, well, I don’t want everyone to think that we really don’t have a concept. And I was like, well, we don’t. And then Marc and I sat down and we got one, and this is the earliest we’ve ever had a concept.

Though the clothes won’t be done until the last minute (Duffy reiterated that Marc sketches and oversees every piece that goes down the Marc Jacobs runway), the show will be on time again.

There have been seasons in the past where we’ve been two hours late, three hours late, whatever. Those days are done. Now I’m like, whatever’s done by eight o’clock, we’re showing it.

And then they’ll run off to Paris and do it all over again for Louis Vuitton.

The Future Of Fashion, Part One: Robert Duffy [Style.com]

Marc Jacobs Won’t Have Celebrities at His Show This Season Because They’re ‘Boring’