It makes sense that the man who brought grunge to the runway would be up for hiring an unconventional team. Today, the Business of Fashion profiles Fergus Purcell, a skateboarder who designed the graphics for the most recent Marc by Marc Jacobs collection helmed by creative director Katie Hillier and womenswear design director Luella Bartley. Though Purcell, who favors metalhead T-shirts and stick-and-poke tattoos, comes from the skateboarding world, he made a jump to mainstream fashion for fall’s skate-, motocross-, and BMX-inspired lineup, the first under the rebooted Marc by Marc Jacobs label. (He’s the mind behind the pieces festooned with messages like “Bunny Hop” and “Revolution.”) Explains Purcell, “I was very aware that even though it wasn’t billed as a full relaunch, the fact that Katie and Luella [were] going to be in charge made it a bit of a rebirth. I wanted to help that phenomenon. I felt that there was loads of affection for Marc by Marc Jacobs out there and if they could just reconnect, people would be really excited. That was on my mind when I was doing the graphics — to do stuff that would convey a real sense of confidence and fun.” Expect to see more of the 44-year-old Irishman’s work on the runway soon: He’s currently working on Marc by Marc’s spring 2015 lineup.
