Marc Jacobs was born in New York City on April 9, 1963. After graduating from the High School of Art and Design in 1981 he entered Parsons School of Design. As a design student at Parsons, Jacobs was the recipient of some of the schools highest honors including Design Student of the Year.
In 1986 Jacobs designed his first collection with the Marc Jacobs label. The following year, Jacobs received the distinct honor of being the youngest designer ever to be awarded the fashion industry’s highest tribute: The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent.
In 1989 Jacobs and business partner Robert Duffy joined Perry Ellis as Vice-President of Women’s Design and President respectively. In 1992, the CFDA once again bestowed Jacobs with a distinct honor: the Women’s Designer of the Year Award for his fabled Grunge Collection.
In the fall of 1993, Jacobs Duffy Designs Inc. launched their own licensing and design company: Marc Jacobs International Company, L.P.
Jacobs and Duffy joined Louis Vuitton in 1997, Jacobs as Artistic Director and Duffy as Studio Director. They also opened the first Marc Jacobs free standing store on Mercer Street in New York’s Soho district.
Jacobs introduced the secondary line, Marc by Marc Jacobs, with a spring 2001 runway show. He has gone on to win seven CFDA awards including Womenswear Designer of the Year, Accessories Designer of the Year and Menswear designer of the year.
The first multi-brand store in the U.S. opened in August 2004 on Boston’s Newbury Street and May 2005 brought the opening of 3 new stores in Los Angeles.
The company opened their first free-standing European store in Paris at The Palais Royal in January, 2006 and followed with a London location in February, 2007. In the Spring of 2007 a full line of children’s wear, aptly named Little Marc Jacobs was launched.
n 2007 the company produced the first collection of Marc by Marc Jacobs eyewear as well as releasing a fragrance, called Daisy, in September. 2007 also marked the opening of a Men’s and Women’s Collection store on London’s Mount Street as well as a multi-brand store in historic Savannah, Georgia, a multi brand store in Tokyo and a Collection store in Moscow as well as many others.
In January, 2008 a Marc by Marc Jacobs boutique opened in Chicago’s Bucktown and several limited edition fragrances were launched. The fall brought openings in Paris, Madrid, Istanbul and Athens--all with their first Marc by Marc locations.
The company has expanded to more than 100 stores worldwide. 2009 will bring new stores in London, Sao Paolo and Milan and a Collection store in Chicago.
Marc by Marc Jacobs has produced its’ first full line of swimwear this spring—further expanding company’s portfolio which now includes Marc Jacobs Collection ready-to-wear, Marc by Marc Jacobs womenswear, Men’s Collection ready-to-wear, Marc by Marc Jacobs menswear, 2 shoe collections, 2 optical collections, 2 sunglass collections, 1 collection of watches, 9 fragrances, the children’s collection and the much loved collection of special items.
In January, 2008 a Marc by Marc Jacobs boutique opened in Chicago’s Bucktown and several limited edition fragrances were launched: 3 new Splash scents, a limited edition Daisy fragrance in a new black bottle and sheer versions of the classic Fig and Gardenia fragrances will be available for Summer 2008. In the Fall of 2008 new Marc by Marc Jacobs stores are slated to open in Paris and Madrid and London in early 2009.
2009 also marks the start of a new venture formed with Sumitomo Corp. that will mean the start of a new beginning for Marc Jacobs business in Japan.
Jacobs will host The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala in May along with Kate Moss, Justin Timberlake and Anna Wintour and will launch a much anticipated new fragrance in the fall.
Multiple freestanding stores and shopin-shops continue to open domestically and across the Far East. Currently Marc Jacobs collection and Marc by Marc Jacobs stores can be found in seven locations in Hong Kong, four locations in Taiwan, twenty-five locations in Japan (including flagships in Osaka and Aoyama) and nine locations in Korea.
Multiple freestanding stores and shop–in-shops continue to open domestically and across the Far East. Currently Marc Jacobs Collection and Marc by Marc Jacobs stores can be found in four locations in Hong Kong, four locations in Taiwan, twenty-five locations in Japan (including flagships in Osaka and Aoyama) and five locations in Korea.
http://www.marcjacobs.com/
