Marc Jacobs - 2008 F/W Women RTW

Reference:http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2008RTW-MJACOBS/

NEW YORK, February 8, 2008
By Nicole Phelps

"We're ready, we're ready to start the show." That was Marc Jacobs himself, addressing the audience from the stage (stage, not runway) at 7:11 p.m. At 7:17, as Kevin Federline was still taking his seat in one of the makeshift, nightclub-style VIP booths not far from Selma Blair, Gretchen Mol, and Helena Christensen, Sonic Youth struck the first dissonant chord of "Jams Run Free," and Jacobs' first model walked out past the band. She wore a shawl-collar pouch-back coat in a shade that looked like camel, although we can't say for sure, concert lighting not being the best kind to illuminate such details. (One thing was immediately clear—whether he shows on a Friday or a Monday, it's always going to be an event.)

The day switch and that revolutionary mere-17-minutes-behind-schedule start time weren't the only changes since last season. If Spring was all about sex, overt sex specifically, this show—his old friend Kim Gordon's gyrations notwithstanding—had a willfully sedate quality.

Afterward, when asked about his inspirations, Jacobs replied, "I really wasn't very inspired this season. I just live my life." OK. When pressed, he offered a few more words: "Calm. Glamour. Casual. Beautiful women." Vague as that sounds, it was in fact an apt description for a collection that hinted at the eighties of Jacobs' early days in New York. It was there in the puffy headbands the models wore around their foreheads and the clubby atmosphere inside the Armory (some said it gave them Regine's, though the set's menacing scaffolding and the unsettling black-and-white images that played on a screen behind the band also suggested a more downtown environment). And it was there in the palette of soft pastels and grays and the relaxed (in terms of shape, not sensibility), somewhat masculine cut of the classic clothes.

Jacobs showed plain-front button-downs with straight skirts; almost preppy popcorn-knit sweaters with narrow shorts; a cashmere sweater that spelled out HARDCORE paired with baggy leather pants; and a thigh-length bomber over a full, shin-grazing skirt. But his big focus was jackets and coats, many of which came with vertical folds of fabric gathered in the back above wide, hip-slung sashes. Dresses, too, came with pronounced volumes at the back. For evening, their stiff folds were replaced by gold or silver lamé pantsuits (paging Loulou de la Falaise) and drippy bias-cut velvet gowns.

Was this collection, in its relative tameness and intriguing air of sexless safety, a rebuff of sorts to last season's detractors, who reprimanded Jacobs as much for his off-the-wall collection as for his perennial lateness? Could be. These clothes are challenging for different reasons than were the difficult transparent pieces he featured for Spring, but they'll be no less coveted. As for the show's accessories, women everywhere will have Jacobs to thank when other designers follow his lead and start producing a lower heel. That's the power of Jacobs' mystique.

Marc Jacobs - 2008 S/S Women RTW

Reference:http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2008RTW-MJACOBS/

NEW YORK, September 10, 2007
By Nicole Phelps

At 11 p.m., precisely two hours after his official starting time, Marc Jacobs surprised his audience by running out onto his Stefan Beckman-designed set for a quick bow. Next came the music, Ravel's Boléro, and out filed the models in finale formation. Then here was the first girl (or rather the last, because by now it was clear this extraordinary show was unspooling backward, starting with look 56 and running down to one). She wore a "silly-string guipure gown," her satin under-things peeking out and her heels perched on top of her "too-small pumps." Behind her, an image of the model in nothing but the bra and panties she wore underneath her outfit was projected on two large screens.

Jacobs collaborated with the video artist Charles Atlas to create the film that played simultaneously with the show. They shot the piece Sunday evening, and Atlas spent the whole night in the editing booth finishing it. As for the clothes and accessories, they were just as off-kilter and knock-your-socks-off as the production, with a bonkers surrealist streak. Trompe l'oeil underwear decorated georgette slipdresses, the heels of pumps protruded not from the heel at all but from the ball of the foot, and three-dimensional quilted leather bags were grafted onto square totes. Transparency was a key theme, too: Cashmere sweaters were inset with sheer panels at the waist, and reconstructed black bugle-bead evening dresses came suspended from their nude linings. Gimmicky? You bet. But also fascinating. If you want normal or tame, you're going to have to look on a different runway. Even the suits came with hip-high slits—though, this being Jacobs, the effect was just as often gawky and awkward as it was provocative.

So what was it all about? With most of the models in varying stages of dishabille, Jacobs appeared to be saying something conceptual about the process of getting dressed—or getting undressed—but he was typically vague backstage. "It's cartoon versions of all the women I know—conservative types, vamps, everybody," he allowed. From the looks of two number-emblazoned team-jersey T-shirt dresses that appeared on his runway, there are footballers' wives in the designer's inner circle along with all of those rockers and artists. One thing's for certain: He's moved on from last season's bourgeois austerity. This sublime performance was about sex, which is one of the reasons why we couldn't look away.

Marc Jacobs - 2007 F/W Women RTW - Details

Marc Jacobs has a full range of Fall/ Winter collection in 2007 and continued showing his flavour in vintage.
This time, he has chosen to bring 70s back on stage again. Those hats, long coats, ribbed sweaters, trousers with loose stirrups and last but mot least, the jumpsuits, were fancy stuffs of that time. However, when they were in the multi-colours and matching the super-slim silhouette, new images were emerged.

According to Nicole Phelps, Marc Jacobs said that the collection is a reflection of his personal life and feeling, called it restraint. Therefore, sharp colours are less and the proportion of black & grey increased. Those sharp colours in the collections were all tertiary colours in the red and the yellow hues. There are mainly orange, dark red, dark purple and yellowish orange.
Following are part of the collection. The main colour being used are picked out.



Main Colour Board for the FW 2007 Collection

Marc Jacobs - 2007 S/S Women RTW

Reference:http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/S2007RTW-MJACOBS

NEW YORK, September 11, 2006
By Nicole Phelps

Pachelbel's Canon, even Brian Eno's version, isn't the sort of music you expect at a runway show. And a bucolic backdrop of rolling hills behind a catwalk that, in turn, was painted lawn green and elevated over a river of mint candies isn't the kind of setting you see every day of fashion week, either. But Marc Jacobs has such a surfeit of cool, he got away with both—and then some—at a spring show that was strangely beautiful (as ever), if a little esoteric.

Backstage, he was mum on literal inspirations, speaking instead of "light, kindness, peace, and generosity." The light part made a sort of sense. Jacobs' palette consisted of white, cream, black for contrast, and ombréd grays, with flashes of brilliant holographic sequins. And from a shirred tulle bomber jacket with a furlike appearance to a drop-waist tiered lace dress that evoked Poiret, there was a certain romance to the collection. Layered jersey tees, billowing brushstroke-stripe silk dresses, and deconstructed à la japonaise cashmeres had an appealing softness.

But was there substance beneath the whimsy? Many of these clothes—the Arabian Nights harem pants, for example, or the tulip pants that he showed unbuttoned up the side—will be a hard sell. On the other hand, the trio of understated-by-comparison T-shirt dresses and the bags—metallic leathers and exotic skins studded with crystals as big as the bulbs on an old Times Square marquee—should keep the faithful happy. Those items are the grounding forces that allow Jacobs to indulge his flights of fancy.

Marc Jacobs - 2007 F/W Women RTW

Reference:http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2007RTW-MJACOBS

NEW YORK, February 5, 2007
By Nicole Phelps

When the red velvet curtain finally opened, Marc Jacobs' 56 models were arrayed tableau vivant-style in front of an enormous set of French doors—the kind you might see in a Paris salon. What you noticed first were the hats. Multicolored, with knit crowns, and short or wide brims, they made the gangly teenage girls onstage hold themselves like proper ladies. Yes, fashion's favorite change agent was at it again.

Last season's billowy layers were nowhere in sight. The collection began with a long coat, ribbed sweater, and trousers with loose stirrups that gave them a clean, sharp line. Moving on, Jacobs showed printed satin and matte jersey shirtdresses to the mid-calf, and belted alpaca tunics over slim cropped pants and knee-length skirts. There were jumpsuits straight out of the seventies. "I wanted something narrower," said the designer, describing the show's new silhouette. Duchesse satin minidresses were cut trim and A-line with a fringe of pleats at the hem, or they came draped, wrapped, and sashed from the shoulders.

This was American sportswear, but with a European sense of impeccability. Some might call it "grown-up." Jacobs, explaining that the collection is a reflection of what's going on with him personally, called it restraint. (Though the term can hardly be used to describe the show's stacks of plastic bangles and Bakelite-heavy handbags.) One look at the designer and you're reminded that he's been spending time at the gym—those were pecs beneath his crisp blue shirt. The experiments with volume that he's been focused on in the last several collections have now gone the way of his extra weight. It might take a season for designers who've followed his lead before to catch on. But less, when it looks this chic, really is more.

Marc Jacobs - 2006 S/S+F/W Women RTW - Comparison with compeitor

Christian Dior 2006 F/W

Color:black,white, dark brown, crimsonmetallic colorsfabrics:leather, silk, satin, fur

Comparison: when CD focused on several colors, MJ seemed to stick to his favourite grey and black throughout the whole collection. the color for MJ were softer and more comfortable for eyes while those of CD were more eye-catching and metallic.

Christian Dior 2006 S/S

Color: flesh color, champagne, pinkish purple, yellowish khaki, brown,yellowish green, pale purple, orangefabrics: silk

Comparison: both of the collections used soft fabrics such as silk. and both flesh color and khaki were used. nevertheless MJ were fond of Navy Blue and tried some metallic color such as silver.

Marc Jacobs - 2006 S/S and F/W Women RTW - Comparison

Although in S/S the color were softer, both of the collection tended to use cool colors in dark shades. Colors used in S/S were repeated used in F/W, e.g. black, grey, white, military green, brown, khali and red. It appeared that MJ was quite fond of those colors. since the theme of the two collection were a bit related (both revolutionary), the color choice were related as well.

Nevertheless, the 2 collections gave different feelings on runway. Guess why, it was contributed much by the background decoration. In S/S it was fancy purple and pink which made the atomsphere cherish and feminine. In F/W it was grey and dark, and it made people feel formal, cool a little bit grunge.