Marc Jacobs seems poised for some kind of big announcement, but no one knows what it is yet. Last week, there was a shakeup at Marc by Marc Jacobs when he replaced himself with British designers Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley as creative director and design director, respectively. Now there’s speculation that he and his business partner, Robert Duffy, might be considering an IPO. Another, more interesting possibility: WWD reports that Jacobs is being considered for Reed Krakoff’s soon-to-open job at Coach. This would pose some complications with Jacobs’s contract with Louis Vuitton, which expires at the end of 2013; he’s reportedly been in discussions with LVMH about his contract’s renewal since last year.
At first blush, it seems unlikely that Jacobs would leave Vuitton for Coach. His sixteen-year tenure at the French fashion house has been extremely successful, earning big profits for the brand. He was aggressively courted for the Dior job in late 2011 and, in the end, stayed put. It seems LVMH will do a lot to keep him.
So if not him, who else is in the running? According to WWD, other possible Krakoff successors include former Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquière, Chloé’s Clare Waight Keller, Derek Lam, Phillip Lim, Kate Spade’s Deborah Lloyd, and Mulberry’s newly jobless Emma Hill. And although Krakoff doesn’t officially step down until June 2014, he could leave sooner if Coach finds a good replacement. Let the search party begin.
