Designer Marc Jacobs and supermodel Linda Evangelista have been friends since the late ’80s, so it was only natural that the duo reminisced on their fashion past during Vogue’s Forces of Fashion event in New York City today. Looking back on both of their illustrious careers, the pair explored how they first met, what their favorite jobs together have been—and what the secret to their longstanding friendship has been.
Evangelista and Jacobs started at the very beginning of their relationship. “I knew about you before I actually met you, because there was a lot of buzz [around you,]” said Evangelista. It was when Jacobs first began designing for Perry Ellis back in the late ’80s, that he had hired Evangelista for their very first campaign together. “We poured a bucket of cold water over your head, and that was the picture,” said Jacobs.
They both reached style icon status by the ’90s, a famously exciting and innovative time in fashion. “It was all over the place; I was working so much,” said Evangelista. “I didn’t socialize or go out as much as people thought I did. I only went to [the famous ’90s club] Palladium twice.” When Jacobs pressed the model for her favorite nightclub moment, Evangelista shared, “Christy [Turlington] and I got up on a swing one night, over the whole dance floor. It was insane!”
Another highlight from the ’90s for the duo, meanwhile, was during the rise of grunge fashion—a look that Jacobs helped define while at Perry Ellis, famously causing a stir with his spring 1993 grunge collection. “It was an exciting period, and necessary,” says Evangelista. “[Fashion] was going in such a bedazzled, opulent [direction]. It was sickening, in a way.” Jacobs adds that he simply wanted to find beauty in the unexpected. “At the time, it was the idea of appreciating and celebrating something beautiful that was never considered beautiful,” he says.
During this time, Evangelista also recalled how people thought the term ’supermodel’ was becoming extinct—a laughable concept now. “There was all this talk about the demise of the supermodel,” says the model, “and that we were ‘over’—and I was like, are we? I was working every day.”
Turns out, Evangelista keeps many of her ’90s treasures in her mother’s home in Canada. “One might call it a basement, but it has windows,” says Evangelista. “I have all of my work—magazines, catalogs, brochures—there, nicely organized. And I had these cedar closets made in France that have the most beautiful clothes in them—Alaïas and Chanels.” Jacobs, too, keeps most of his work in archives. “As a company, we keep most of the collections we’ve done in an archive,” he said. “I also think we have old VHS copies of fashion shows that we’ve never transferred.” To which Evangelista quipped, “You better hurry up!”
They agreed that the secret to their long-standing bond is sincerity, and always being there for each other. “We’ve lost so many people in our industry,” said Evangelista. “As time goes by, I try to hold on to my real friends as much as possible. It’s hard to make real friends in this business, and it takes real commitment to remain friends.”
Director: Michael Toriello
Director of Photography: Andy Hoets
Editors: Evan Allan, Cory Stevens
Associate Director, Creative Development: Alexandra Gurvitch
Technical Director: Jon Davila
Video Engineer: Jose Santiago
Camera Operators: Geoff Celis, Gregg Brault
Robotic Cameras: Mitch Csanadi
Gaffer: Anh Pham
Audio Engineer: David Rosenberger
Audio Technician: Bradley Timofeev
Set Designers: Raul Avila, Ashley Duch
Carpenter: Orwayne Price
Post Production Coordinator: Jovan James
Supervising Editor: Kameron Key
Post Production Supervisor: Edward Taylor
Entertainment Director: Sergio Kletnoy
Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson
VP, Digital Video English: Thespena Guatieri
