He is known for his label Marc Jacobs, his diffusion line, Marc by Marc Jacobs, and for his 15 years as creative director of French luxury label Louis Vuitton. He answers a few questions:
Were you surprised when Louis Vuitton first approached you?
Of course. I was shocked. I was surprised on lots of different levels. First, I am American. Second, I was surprised that Louis Vuitton was even considering fashion. It had always been known for one thing, and here they were deciding that they wanted to move into different categories.
What has been the biggest impact on your creativity of working for the brand?
Freedom. Vuitton is open to trying new things.
Do your past designs inform new ones?
We never simply roll out a piece and redo it. Rather, we think what intrinsic quality it had that made it so appealing to so many people. The answer is often femininity, a certain sex appeal without vulgarity. We keep that in mind as we design.
Do you have an image of a specific woman when you design?
I don't think there is just one Louis Vuitton woman. That is why for the fall/winter 2011 show I loved the idea of lots of different characters - a wife, a mistress, a girlfriend - stepping out of a row of hotel elevators.
The Vuitton woman is more about a quality - a quality that needs to come forward, to be noticed and recognised.
The term luxury, what does it mean to you?
Simplicity.
How do you work with your creative teams?
We have separate ready-to-wear shoe and bag teams. Basically, we all work on everything together and feed off each other's ideas. A shoe can inspire a dress, just as a dress can inspire a bag, and vice versa.
Although we all have our separate work spaces, we are on the same floor, so it is easy to share and to communicate.I think that when we do our job best it is because there is some kind of connection between the designs.
Do you have an impression of the creativity - fashion and art - from South Africa?
I know Kim [Jones, style director of the Louis Vuitton men's ready-to-wear division] is a huge fan. He loves the place. I've heard great things about South Africa.
What are the parallels between you and Louis Vuitton, the man who launched the brand?
I guess we are both pioneers who started off relatively unknown and eventually, through time, created something functional and beautiful that women aspire to have.
The exhibition is at the Musée Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, France until September 16. Louis Vuitton-Marc Jacobs, a coffee table book, is available for R870
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