A funny thing has started happening at Marc Jacobs shows: Fans, content to sit and watch the big-name models strut by, jump to their feet to get a better glimpse (and a camera-phone pic) of the designer as he comes out for his bow. He s fashion s biggest superstar, no question, and he earned that reputation all over again this week with his fantastic signature collection. Under the circumstances, it s probably no surprise that his little-sister show, with its best-bits-from-the-vintage-store mentality, can be something of a letdown. But the Marc by Marc Jacobs line he presented for Spring today was one of his liveliest in a while. Maybe that s because he borrowed some of the details from his own recent oeuvre. To start with, the models all wore bunny bows in their hair, echoing Madonna s Vuitton getup at the Met ball, albeit on a smaller scale. Then there were the jackets and coats with the still-directional forties-by-way-of-the-eighties pinched shoulders. Fall s neons made a reappearance as well; the best of the bunch being a hot pink and caution orange striped dress with mismatched belt.
But not everything was reminiscent of Jacobs previous collections. The African-inspired prints he used for easy, belted day dresses played into New York s burgeoning tribal trend. (Then again, all things tribal can arguably be traced back to the influential Spring 2009 Vuitton show.) Jacobs also showed a lot of jumpsuits—the cutest in sporty blue terrycloth. It s a look that a less confident designer might have avoided this season because of its recent runway ubiquity. Not him. Self-assurance is something Marc Jacobs has no shortage of.
