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I completed out of class research by finding out more about PLT's virtual model 'Luna'.

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Isabelle Kennedy-Grimes
Pretty Little Thing (PLT), an online clothing brand, have caught themselves up in a fair amount of controversy recently with CEO Molly Mae's naïve assertions about equal opportunity. The company have now spurred further debate with their creation of a 'virtual girl', an animated female figure on whom they intend to model their clothes in the future. Consumers of the brand have expressed many of their initial concerns through Twitter; these include, the damaging beauty standards that this animation encourages as well as the threat it has to modelling careers.
Despite being "terrifying" and "creepy", as some of the public have described, PLT's attempts to connect the real world with the metaverse also raise several moral issues. In an age where social media and advertising are responsible for setting young female beauty standards - their influence ranging from the inducement of eating disorders to the encouragement of body positivity - anything that exists at the rear-end of this spectrum is to be avoided at all costs.

PLT's new 'virtual girl' hinders the current movement towards body positivity and acceptance. The chosen design depicts a barbie doll-type figure, which is tall and slim and in no way "relatable and real to...customers", as Creative Director, Toni Hayden anticipates. The fact that the brand's first model of the 'virtual girl' is the epitome of the pre-existing and highly damaging female beauty standard, leads one to conclude that they are in fact uninterested in creating models which are relatable and representative of their consumers. Instead, they have consciously chosen to entertain this unattainable body image which already causes so many young women and girls to develop eating disorders and other mental health issues.

This is highly damaging and demonstrates a total lack of concern for the well-being of the brand's young, female consumers

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To make matters worse, the brand is marketing this model - this body image - as something to which consumers should relate to and identify with. They have set up an online competition, urging Instagram followers to comment suggestions of names for the model, for a chance to be turned into the newest version of the 'virtual girl'. Already, the enthusiasm with which some followers have responded, calling the marketing scheme "cool" and remarking that this model "looks like a princess", demonstrates that consumers are susceptible to idolising this virtual figure. The competition ultimately encourages women to associate themselves with, and potentially compare themselves to, this false and unattainable representation of the female body.

This is highly damaging and demonstrates a total lack of concern for the well-being of the brand's young, female consumers. As a company that prides itself in being a "reactive" brand, they should receive the concerns expressed by their consumers, via Twitter, as strong advisement to nip this marketing scheme in the bud. It promotes unhealthy identification with unattainable beauty standards and deprives real-life models of job opportunities. In addition, as a marketing strategy it is bound to be unsuccessful.

PLT's 'virtual girl' is an ethical money-maker which hinders progress towards body positivity

Consumers of online clothing brands are already suspicious of the quality of clothing in real life, compared to that depicted online. The Snapchat story, 'What I Got' is a space where Snapchat users post shocking revelations of the clothes they have received from online. A virtual depiction of clothes on an animated model is unlikely then to appeal to already wary customers.

Ultimately, PLT's 'virtual girl' is an unethical money-maker which hinders progress towards body positivity, as well as depriving models of jobs. Not only this, but as a marketing strategy it will prove ineffective.

Isabelle Kennedy-Grimes

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Pretty Little Thing Sparks Controversy With (Super)ficial Intelligence - Impact Magazine

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Pretty Little Thing (PLT), an online clothing brand, have caught themselves up in a fair amount of controversy recently with CEO Molly Mae's naïve assertions about equal opportunity. The company have now spurred further debate with their creation of a 'virtual girl', an animated female figure on whom they intend to model their clothes in the future.

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https://www.prettylittlething.com/

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Colour blocking trend for nike presentation

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Colour blocking trend for nike presentation

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including the matching set hashtag

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EDITED

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comparison of nike adidas new balance and gymshark sports bras

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comparison of nike adidas new balance and gymshark sports bras

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https://app.edited.com/#retail/article/retail-weekly-trending-280122

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I used this as a my personal research in order to find out about skims marketing and social media. This was helpful as I could see how the brand communicates with their customers as well as promoting their products using tiktoks and reels.

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This is the instagram poll I conducted to find out other peoples views on SKIMS as a brand and whether their promotion and marketing works. Overall it was only slightly over 50% which shows that they could try and work on their marketing.

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This is the BofF article about SKIMS value. I found this helpful as it had a lot of information to do with the brand that i couldn’t find else where

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Kim Kardashian West in Skims | Source: Courtesy

By Joan Kennedy April 9, 2021 14:32

The Series A round of $154 million was led by Joshua Kushner's venture capital firm Thrive Capital, with additional investment from Imaginary Ventures and Alliance Consumer Growth. Founded in 2018, the inclusive shapewear brand has sold over 4 million units as the multi-billion dollar shapewear market heats up. The Kardashian-owned retailer - which added loungewear to its mix in the midst of the pandemic - will use the new injection of funds for product innovation, expansion into new categories, global growth and exploration of brick-and-mortar.

This news comes after a busy week for Kardashian West, in which she appeared on the Forbes' billionaires list for the first time and began a bid for the skin care market.

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Kim Kardashian's Skims Valued At $1.6 Billion

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Kim Kardashian West in Skims | Source: Courtesy By Joan Kennedy April 9, 2021 14:32 The Series A round of $154 million was led by Joshua Kushner's venture capital firm Thrive Capital, with additional investment from Imaginary Ventures and Alliance Consumer Growth.

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ACORN classification for consumer profile 

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ACORN classification for consumer profile 

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This is the acorn classification system. I used this to get an overall profile for the a SKIMS customer. This then helped me build my customer profile further on.

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Acorn | Geodemographic Segmentation | Acorn Data | CACI

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Acorn provides a geodemographic segmentation of the UK's population. Acorn is used to analyse customers, identify profitable prospects, evaluate local markets.

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I used this shops website to get images and prices of the brands competitors in order to compare.

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SPANX | Shapewear, Clothing, Activewear & Intimates

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Shop Spanx.com for the largest selection of slimming intimates, body shapers, hosiery, apparel, and the latest innovations in shapewear for men and women.

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ss22 womens colour trends, this was useful to look at the ss/22 for my trend reports and to show that the nude tones of skims fit in

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The SKIMS website was by far the most helpful as it has a lot of information about the brands itself, as well as a clearly presented website. I also used this website to watch the skims tv section which had opinions from influencers and customers.

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SKIMS is a solutions oriented brand creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear and shapewear.

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Our Best Behind-the-Scenes Snaps From New York Fashion Week | Boots, New york fashion week 2018, Fashion shoes

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Sep 15, 2016 - Backstage pros Kevin Tachman and Driely S. are behind the scenes at New York Fashion Week shooting all the top shows. Don't miss our daily updates.

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https://pin.it/18ssdtJ

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╰ s y l v i e | Red aesthetic, Aesthetic makeup, Red

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Oct 14, 2020 - This Pin was discovered by ⋆━𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒉𝒂. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest

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The history of Marc Jacobs talking about his past.

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When it comes to Marc Jacobs history of the label, we could easily declare that the designer Marc Jacobs is a quite unique specimen among fashion giants. He used to be at the helm of not one, but two fashion empires at once, one of the being none other than , who helped transform into the label we know of today.

Aside from , he is the head and founder of his own fashion label Marc Jacobs , and his diffusion line Marc by Marc Jacobs , leaving no place to wonder why he is often considered to be one of the most influential people in the world.

If you consider yourself a fashion admirer, that Marc Jacobs famous grunge vibe isn't something than you would easily forget, so on that note, we introduce one of the most iconic American fashion designers and the story of his label, now considered to be one of the most luxurious fashion brands in the world, that can be shopped in our resort too.

Designer Marc Jacobs and his early beginnings

Designer Marc Jacobs was born in a Jewish family in New York. When he was a just a child of seven, he faced a trauma that will come to be one of the most defining events of his young life - the death of his father.
His father died of a condition known as ulcerative colitis, a condition he too suffered from later in life.
His mother remarried three times afterwards, but the ongoing issue he had with his mother incapacity to take care of him, which he once explained as "mental illness". Each remarriage meant new location for the family, leaving them bouncing from New Jersey to Bronx.

Her post husband-death life, filled with dating and failed marriages has caused a tremendous upheaval on the entire family, especially on the life of her young son and later on his Marc Jacobs brand history.

Grandmother and her influence on Marc Jacobs brand history

Due to feeling alienated from his mother and siblings, young Marc decided to move in with his paternal grandmother on the Manhattan Upper West Side, where he finally managed to feel at home, making this moment an important milestone in creating the future Marc Jacobs brand history.

Speaking about Marc Jacobs history, Marc's grandmother was a major fashion influence in his life - well educated and well traveled, she held a deep adoration for all aesthetically beautiful things, while being significantly involved and supportive of Marc's earliest designs.

It is thanks to her understanding and unconditional support that they managed to forge a bond, that added some much needed stability in Marc's life - stability he was lacking before.

Years later, her love and encouragement led him to say: "No one ever said 'no' to me about anything. No one ever told me anything was wrong. Never. No one ever said, 'You can't be a fashion designer.' No one ever said, 'You're a boy and you can't take tap-dancing lessons.' No one ever said, 'You're a boy and you can't have long hair.' No one ever said, 'You can't go out at night because you're 15 and 15-year-olds don't go to nightclubs.' No one said it was wrong to be gay or right to be straight."

Marc Jacobs designs - the work of a fashion prodigy

What Marc wanted the most was to become the designer Marc Jacobs we know and love to today, and we can freely say that Marc Jacobs history was truly the one of a fashion prodigy.

By the age of 15, he was attending the High School of Art and Design during the day, and after school he was working in high-end Charivari boutique. Brand's staff has allowed him to design sweaters, in between his other tasks such as folding clothes and dressing the mannequins.

Thanks to this type of boutique work, he has managed to get a spot at a coveted Parsons School for Design, where the next chapter of Marc Jacobs history as a label founder and fashion prodigy continues.

"Student of the year" award paving the way for a future fashion giant

As we already mentioned, the important part of Marc Jacobs history and journey as a designer was his time at Parsons school for Design.

Here he really stood out among his classmates, so much so, that he earned both the Perry Ellis Gold Thimble Award and Design Student of the Year at graduation in 1984. Of course, there was no stopping him there when it came to awards - in 1987. he became the youngest ever designer to win the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America for New Fashion Talent.

Quickly after graduating he designed his first collection for the label Sketchbook for Reuben Thomas, citing Amadeus and Purple rain films as his main inspiration for the line.

Designer at Perry Ellis with many more honors to come

After obtaining the prestigious award, he took over as women's wear designer at Perry Ellis, where he won another prestigious recognition in 1992. - CFDA prize for Womenswear Designer of the Year. As if that wasn't enough, he won the same award again 5 years later and the Marc Jacobs history really took a new turn.

However, in 1993. Perry Ellis has decided to shut down his manufacturing process - the reason for it was one of Marc Jacobs designs that company absolutely despised, but critics adored. In this case it was a Marc Jacobs design style that was all wrong with the label - the grunge collection that proved to be an essential push for Marc to start his own brand and therefore pave the way for a new chapter in Marc Jacobs brand history.

Speaking about true professional triumphs, being named as creative director of , Paris luxury good house, was one for Marc. However, even it was a huge honor and an important milestone in his career, it also brought new pressures and made his personal life uneasy.

This was a time our designer-of-the-hour began a heavy drug use, with cocaine, heroin and alcohol binges at almost every night basis. He felt alcohol gave him superpowers, making him look and feel smarter, taller and more fun to be around. In 1999. he checked into rehab, partially thanks to his close friends' persuasion, supermodel Naomi Campbell and American Vogue editor in chief - Anna Wintour.

Once he was done with rehab, Marc had an opportunity to come back to work, which meant he managed to design his first ready-to-wear collection for Louis Vuitton , while expanding his own label at the same time, giving the Marc Jacobs history discours a fresh new beginning.

His Marc Jacobs collections are sold at dozens of boutiques all around the world, not to mention that his label expanded to fragrance, makeup and accessories as well. Shortly after his return on the fashion scene in 2002., with collection for and his own, Marc Jacobs label, he was named the Menswear Designer of the Year by The Council of Fashion Designers of America.

Aside from being honored with that award, he also picked up Accessories Designer of the Year in 1998/99, 2003 and 2005 - making him one of the most award-winning and most coveted American designers ever.

Marc Jacobs label at luxury Porto Montenegro

Marc Jacobs history, both as a label and a designer, can be summarised as the story of boy wonder, a fashion prodigy, and now one of the most coveted high-fashion designers that continues to turn heads - both with his collections, as well as his personal life.

Marc Jacobs show is always one of the most important shows to see and to be seen at, always gathering the most important people of the fashion world.

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Marc Jacobs history - meet the fashion prodigy behind the brand - Porto Montenegro

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When it comes to Marc Jacobs history of the label, we could easily declare that the designer Marc Jacobs is a quite unique specimen among fashion giants. He used to be at the helm of not one, but two fashion empires at once, one of the being none other than , who helped transform into the label we know of today.

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More information about Marc Jacobs past

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Marc Jacobs biograhpy Born: New York, New York, USA, 1963
An early influence in fashion started from Marc Jacobs grandmother. Teaching him how to knit, Jacobs interest in fashion led him to attend the High School of Art and Design. Graduating in 1981, he then enrolled at the Parsons School of Design. While studying at Parsons, Jacobs was recipient of some of the highest awards from the school including 'Design Student of the Year'.

Jacobs began to design while at Parsons, creating and selling a line of hand knit sweaters. During a graduation dinner, Jacobs met Robert Duffy. Duffy was impressed with Jacobs' designs with started a personal and professional relationship between the two.

After graduating, Jacobs designed his first collection under his own name, the following year; Jacobs won The Council of Fashion Designer of America Perry Ellis Award for 'New Fashion Talent'. Jacobs had the honour of being the youngest designer to ever receive the award.

His first company lasted only two years, with Jacobs quitting to join Perry Ellis as Vice-President of Women's Design in 1989. Duffy went with Jacobs, hired as President of the company. In 1992, the CFDA once again honoured Jacobs with the Women's 'Designer of the Year Award' for his famous 'Grunge Collection' at Perry Ellis.

In 1993, Jacobs' and Duffy launched, Jacobs Duffy Designs Inc., starting their own licensing and design company; Marc Jacobs International Company. Jacobs' new designs were praised for their simplicity and modern look.

In 1997 Jacobs and Duffy joined Louis Vuitton, as creative director and studio director. Jacobs had plans to design deluxe items a person could travel with. Jacobs also created the company's first ready-to-wear clothing line.

The same year they opened the first Marc Jacobs store on Mercer Street, in the Soho district of New York.

In 2001 a diffusion line, Marc by Marc Jacobs was introduced with a spring runway show. In 2004 a shop selling both brands was opened in Boston and a year later three new shops were opened in Los Angeles. In 2006, a shop was opened in Paris followed by another opened in London in 2007. The same year a new line for children named 'Little Marc Jacobs' was launched.

In 2007 the company started an eyewear range as well as releasing the first fragrance, 'Daisy'. This followed by more shops opening in London, Savannah, Georgia, Tokyo and Moscow. In 2008 more locations where again opened worldwide with the Chicago boutique offering several limited edition fragrances.

The company currently has ranges including Marc Jacobs Collection ready-to-wear, male and female, Marc by Marc Jacobs male and female, two shoe collections, two eyewear and two sunglass collections, one collection of watches, nice fragrances and a children's line. Marc Jacobs personally has gone onto winning seven CFDA awards.

In 2013 Jacobs announced his departure from Louis Vuitton after a sixteen-year tenure, confirming previous rumors that he was leaving to focus fully on his eponymous brand.

Known for his simple and modern designs, Marc Jacobs has the ability to design clothes people want to wear, making him a successful designer for his own company and other houses he has worked for.
Marc Jacobs biograhpy

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Marc Jacobs biograhpy Born: New York, New York, USA, 1963 An early influence in fashion started from Marc Jacobs grandmother. Teaching him how to knit, Jacobs interest in fashion led him to attend the High School of Art and Design. Graduating in 1981, he then enrolled at the Parsons School of Design.

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Marc Jacobs Grunge collection revamp after it ignited his career in 1992

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Love it or hate it, Marc Jacobs's 1992 grunge collection for Perry Ellis has always seemed a case study in trusting one's instincts. Sure, Jacobs lost his job afterward (he was fired six months later, mainly because Perry Ellis wanted out of the women's-collection business altogether to focus on licensing), but in reflecting the sensibility of both the Seattle music scene and the "waif" beauty advanced by photographers of the time, he achieved something unforgettable. Much of it - in Jacobs's words, based on "found crap" from vintage stores - became a touchstone of the '90s and beyond. For the designer personally, who was 29 at the time and struggling to create fashion that felt meaningful, the collection gave him his stakes: Do things you believe in, however silly, and the results will usually be strong.

So does the business decision to reissue his grunge collection this year spoil the idea that America's most creative designer operates best from instinct? Is it an admission that Jacobs is facing a new set of obstacles in an industry that has changed mercilessly in the past decade? Will a new generation of consumers share the irony and charm of his awkward take on femininity? The answers are unclear, but as the Marc Jacobs label tries to improve sales and reburnish its youthful image, a positive response will matter. In any case, the company is reproducing 26 of the original runway outfits, along with knitted caps, jewelry, and shoes (again, in collaboration with Birkenstock and Dr. Martens).

Despite the historical relevance of the grunge collection, Jacobs did not keep any samples, so for pattern-making purposes, his staff had to rely on photos and videos, like Sonic Youth's "Sugar Kane," which includes scenes from the show. The Met's Costume Institute had a few pieces to view, and friends like the stylist Elissa Santisi and the former editor Gabé Doppelt loaned items they owned, such as the trench coat worn in the 1992 show by Christy Turlington. For the redux styles, Jacobs even went back to the same mills he'd used originally for fabrics like a peach-hued silk plaid based on a men's flannel shirt he found on St. Marks Place and to Robert Crumb for permission to again use Mr. Natural and other cartoon figures on shirts.

And rather than seek permission from Perry Ellis to reissue the clothes, which most critics ( myself included) initially hated, the company decided to ask for forgiveness instead.

Anyway, Perry Ellis didn't object, Jacobs said, adding with an amused grin, "It would have been funny if they suddenly had a problem with me wanting to do it."

This summer, I met with Jacobs in a sunny room in his Soho offices, where the clothes were displayed on mannequins. Since his physical transformation more than a decade ago from nerdy shlub to buff celebrity, often in Comme des Garçons, Jacobs's look has been a source of mild fascination. That day, he had on a dark long-sleeved top with form-fitting yet soft pants and one or two gold chains, possibly Chanel. His gray-flecked hair was slicked back and covered with a wide black headband. Jacobs in conversation is part psychiatrist-couch confessional, part Joan Rivers girlfriend patter. He talks a lot, with selective deep dives on art, culture, fashion, and the state of his moods.

He says several factors influenced the decision to revisit grunge. One was that the plan to develop the contemporary collection, with the designer John Targon, wasn't very considered, in Jacobs's view. He said that he wasn't part of the initial decision to bring in Targon, a co-founder of Baja East, and that it was instigated by the company's chief executive, Eric Marechalle.

"I said, 'You guys, you put the cart before the horse,' " Jacobs said, recalling conversations in February of this year with Marechalle and Sidney Toledano of LVMH, the majority owner of Marc Jacobs. " 'You didn't give John a real project. It was just like, Come in and see what you can do. I don't think that was fair to him. And I'm not sure he was the right person.' " So Jacobs asked executives to stop the project and regroup. Targon was let go.

Another factor, more complicated, was the turmoil within the label - the subject of a New York piece in June - and the decision, in 2015, to unify the collection line and the lower-priced Marc by Marc Jacobs division. "Clearly, we had been struggling in areas where it's become a different brand, and people are confused," Jacobs told me. "Like, you're doing these runway shows and then the clothes don't exist. You're making these contemporary-priced bags that sell super-well but then that's not what people think of as Marc Jacobs."

In other words, although a significant portion of a runway collection used to be offered in stores, that's not the case now, owing partly to declining sales, partly to the disruptive effect of social media and e-commerce, and partly to the intensive way Jacobs designs. But it scarcely helps the brand's image to be represented in a store with a few collection pieces and a rack of inexpensive T-shirts. "Being a little bit of a lot of things to nobody isn't getting us anywhere," Jacobs said.

Still, the company needed something in stores for November. Jacobs brought together people who'd worked for the company the longest. He also asked Sarah Andelman, a co-owner of the recently closed, influential retailer Colette, in Paris, for her ideas. The upshot was a capsule grunge collection. "This is not an aggressive sales thing," Jacobs said. "It's not like we're going to redo this collection at one-16th of the price and put it in every store all over the world," he added pointedly. "We chose a few retailers" - Saks Fifth Avenue and Dover Street Market, among others - "and we won't show it in the usual way."

He asked Juergen Teller, his longtime collaborator on advertising, with whom he'd had a falling out, to shoot the clothes. As in the past, he gave Teller free rein. Since Jacobs was looking back, Teller told him he would look back as well, perhaps collaging new images over old ads - "Kind of fucking with time," said Jacobs, who had begun to vape.

Looking at the collection 26 years later, at the wallpaper-print silk dresses, a pair of khaki cargo pants tied at the waist with a green plaid shirt, a taupe suede jacket, at Turlington's divine trench, it's hard to believe we were so offended. (One critic later handed out grunge is ghastly pins.) The clothes looked cool, with more attention to the details and finishing than I'd remembered. More remarkably, they contained the themes Jacobs would pursue over the next two and a half decades, like the cherry prints and the slinky '30s silhouette and, of course, a youthful gawkiness.

At one time, Jacobs would have surely rejected the idea of a redux collection. He was all about the energy of the moment. But though there is a lot about the current fashion scene that Jacobs doesn't like or understand, like the absurd power of influencers, he doesn't want to fall into the trap of thinking only one viewpoint is correct. "I really don't want to be Grandpa saying the same thing that was said about me," he said.

For him, the virtue of the grunge capsule is that it shows people in his organization that they don't have to stick with a formula. Next year for resort, the brand could do a collaboration - or something else. "I don't think it's a time of binary rules," Jacobs said. "And I think that's the point." He added, "Now, in terms of what we're doing in September, it means nothing. I don't know what we're going to do. I mean, part of me thinks the runway thing should be just seven minutes of something you should just enjoy and maybe never see again. Because chances are you won't!" He laughed.

This is part of a longer conversation that Jacobs, a brilliant showman, says he has had with peers like Raf Simons, Miuccia Prada, and Bridget Foley, the executive editor of Women's Wear Daily, with whom he has had a long relationship. "Do we look at a show and say, 'Wow, that was something?' " he said. "Can we compartmentalize that and say that made a great show - the clothes that people might want to buy are another thing? I don't think that trickle-down thing happens anymore. The creative landscape has changed. Again, I don't think it's so binary or cut-and-dry."

Jacobs noted that the brand, like others, reaches a great many of its customers through makeup (a roughly $200 million business, according to WWD). "We have at times and are currently reaching a lot of people through handbags, at times with shoes. Ready-to-wear, even at its best, was always the smallest, the least democratic reach of all. Based on how often it changes. Based on sizes. Based on the many moving parts involved. I'm very realistic about that, and I was very realistic about that at Vuitton."

The shows at Vuitton may have been fancy window-dressing for the bags, but while he was the creative director there, from 1997 to 2013, Jacobs nonetheless turned ready-to-wear into a significant business, according to conversations I'd had in the mid-aughts with Yves Carcelle, the late chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton. I mentioned that now.

Nodding, Jacobs said, "I wonder if it's so much easier to - well, I'm convinced it's so much easier to do when you've got the name on the door: Gucci, Dior, Chanel - not to take anything away from Karl - Yves Saint Laurent. Those names still bring with them something that very few people have been able to achieve. In the U.S., for sure. I learned my lesson very early at Vuitton. The first season had no logos, and it didn't go over very well. I was like, You know, if I'm going to make this work, I'm going to celebrate the thing that made this company what it is. Which is that everybody can see that it's Louis Vuitton. So I'm going to celebrate the monogram. And when I figured that out, I also had a better time." Indeed, Jacobs enlisted individuals like the designer Stephen Sprouse and the artist Takashi Murakami to disrupt the famous LV logo, in a sense bringing it back to the fore.

A month before I saw Jacobs, the Times ran its story detailing how Jacobs "fell out of fashion." It cited flat revenues, the closing of dozens of Marc Jacobs stores - including "a near-decimation of the stretch of Bleecker Street once called 'MarcLand' " - and the sense that his shows, however much they are anticipated, have suddenly taken on "a poignant air of irrelevance." Scant few of the lavish, oversize outfits from his fall collection - a nod to the era of Ferré and Montana and the hands-on-hips attitude of '80s models - even made it onto the company's e-commerce site.

For Jacobs, perhaps for all creative people, doing work that feels relevant and meaningful is one of the most confounding struggles to face. "I feel that all the time," Jacobs said, when I brought up the Times article. "I've felt that for 25 years. I think I've felt it all my life." While Jacobs didn't seem to take issue with the substance of the story, he found fault with its timing.

"Part of me wanted to lash out at the Times and say, 'Really? I could expect that from the Daily News.' I mean, somebody had already done the story. I just thought, Another one? Isn't there anything else to write about, rather than how our numbers have dropped? I've certainly heard about this about other designers as well. Why us?"

I suggested that maybe it had something to do with his talent, his name. "Okay, so that's the reason to do it," he said mildly. "But it was hurtful, it was annoying. Like I said, I've kind of struggled to think of myself as relevant anyway. It's true I never know what we want to do. Maybe I don't have much to say. I don't know. Maybe I have nothing to say, but I still enjoy doing this." He shrugged. "I wonder what 'relevant' is. Again, it seems that Lululemon is relevant."

To the writer of the Times piece, the fact that a designer of Jacobs's caliber could even admit to such self-doubt or to not knowing the desires of customers, was startling. But this is, in fact, one of the central problems of today, not just in fashion. It is the unrelenting speed of change and the certainty that the world will roll on - sooner rather than later - without you. Jacobs, it seems to me, is simply putting the matter out in the open. He doesn't yet have the answer. Some brands have adapted by promoting flashy new talent, like Gucci, while others strive to be "problem solvers" for women - something Jacobs has never tried to be, even when his designs easily connected with people. In a few cases, an influential designer has chosen to retire early - Martin Margiela, for example.

I asked Jacobs, who is 55, if he wants to be the person who guides his label through this weird time and also whether he thinks about retiring. "Yes, both!" he said, putting down his vape. "I can tell you this right off the couch at my shrink's twice a week. Part of me wonders what it would look like to do something else or to do nothing. But I've never done that before. This is so much a part of my life, and even when it's tortuously painful ... it's still the only thing I want to do.

"Part of me is terrified by the idea of letting go, and then part of me is terrified by the idea of staying too long at the party." Then he added, "Yesterday I was in tears after a long day of things that didn't go my way. It wasn't bad news, it was just a struggle. Why am I doing this anymore? Maybe I have nothing to say? Then I woke up this morning and I thought, You know what? I have more energy than I did yesterday and I want to give it another go. "

Production Credits

Styling by Jaime Kay Waxman

Makeup by Stoj at Management + Artists using MAC Cosmetics

Models: Daniele Marle Miller, Oslo Grace at BMG, Sebastian Rosemarie at New Pandemics, Memphis at No Agency, Mathilde Ollivier at United Talent, Yên Nguyen, Ariel King, and Harmony Tividad

*This article appears in the November 12, 2018, issue of New York Magazine. Subscribe Now!

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Why Marc Jacobs Brought His 1992 Grunge Collection Back to Life

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Love it or hate it, Marc Jacobs's 1992 grunge collection for Perry Ellis has always seemed a case study in trusting one's instincts. Sure, Jacobs lost his job afterward (he was fired six months later, mainly because Perry Ellis wanted out of the women's-collection business altogether to focus on licensing), but in reflecting the sensibility of both the Seattle music scene and the "waif" beauty advanced by photographers of the time, he achieved something unforgettable.

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The launch of Marc Jacobs beauty

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Olivia Rodrigo wearing Tiktok trending Marc Jacobs Boots

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Some boots are made for walking, but Olivia Rodrigo's boots are made for stomping. Yesterday in Brentwood, California, the pop star stepped out in a seriously hefty pair of platform boots that gave her Y2K outfit a fun, edgy finish. Her sheer, dotted shirt by O-Mighty and black Unif mini skirt were eye-catching on their own, but it was the tall, lug-sole boots that really stole the show. They happen to be going viral on TikTok right now, where fashion lovers are constantly posting about their obsession with them.

The boots in question are by Marc Jacobs, and first made their runway appearance in the designer's fall 2017 collection. Recently, some of the Heaven by Marc Jacobs stores have been carrying the shoes again-and Gen Z is totally fixated on them. TikTok creators have been posting their boot hauls (a major score, considering the re-release is only available in limited quantities). This TikTok creator secured a pair in black. "I feel like a Bratz doll," she says. "Look how high they are!" Others have been favoring the brown, ankle-length pair from the same 2017 collection.

Clearly, Rodrigo is also on Fashion TikTok, as she's managed to find (and rock) the boots as well. It's not the first time she's worn Marc Jacobs's stompers either: Back in June, she wore the knee-high platforms from his fall 2016 collection (the one Lady Gaga famously walked in). Just remember that if you manage to find a pair like Rodrigo's, you might even trend on TikTok, too.

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Olivia Rodrigo Steps Out in TikTok's Favorite, Viral Boots

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Some boots are made for walking, but Olivia Rodrigo's boots are made for stomping. Yesterday in Brentwood, California, the pop star stepped out in a seriously hefty pair of platform boots that gave her Y2K outfit a fun, edgy finish.

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Buzzfeed post on Marc Jacobs campaign

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The marc jacobs website section showing the timeline of the brand

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Take a look inside the world of Marc Jacobs. Learn about the designer & explore campaigns, press, lookbooks, runway, events, behind-the-scenes & more!