NYFW diary: Lust be a lady at Marc Jacobs

feb11marcjacobsnyfw
Photography by Fernanda Calfat/Stringer
feb11marcjacobsnyfw
Photography by Fernanda Calfat/Stringer

Attending a Marc Jacobs show is like going to the theatre. There’s THE SET (for fall 2011, it was French boudoir with white patent padded columns, mirrored floors and soft red lighting), THE MUSIC (Marilyn Manson’s “Beautiful People” on repeat), THE AUDIENCE (Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie and her hot hubby Josh Duhamel, kitchen queen Martha Stewart, Gossip Girl’s (and our February cover girl) Leighton Meester and Jacobs’s BFF Sofia Coppola). And then there’s that little thing called THE COSTUMES. Jacobs sent 63 looks down the runway, all of which showed very little skin but still managed to look subversively sexy with their body-skimming silhouettes⎯a major departure from his flowing spring lines.

Corseted sweaters were paired with rubber trousers, rubber was made to look like sequins, sequins were made to look like fur, and Lilliputian-sized vinyl berets designed by Milliner Stephen Jones were perched on top of cashmere chin straps. The snuff suede snow boots and cordovan sex brogues were foot fetish-worthy. Then there was the second act, which featured strict peplum jackets, head-to-toe polka dot ensembles and plastic cabochon-studded pony skin skirts. Like any jaw-dropping theatre production, the impact stays with you (and your senses) for days, sometimes weeks after.  It’s only been several hours, but I already know I want an encore.

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