Springing surprises
Marc Jacobs’ Spring/Summer 2012 collection personifies femininity, childhood and all things spring
Earlier this month, Marc Jacobs had talked about the importance of a
surprise element in fashion (“People don’t know what they want. They
only know when they see it,” he said in the March issue of Time
magazine). Jacobs had already put his thoughts into action much earlier
with Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2012 women’s collection (that showed
in October), which pulled off a surprise like no other, especially after
his Fall/Winter collection 2011. Where the Fall/Winter one was all
about fetishism, this one was all femininity; the navies and blacks have
been replaced by wispy whites and subtle, almost missable, pastels. The
strict silhouettes are out, feathery layers in. In an email interview,
the creative director for Louis Vuitton talks about the surprise he has
thrown up this season. Edited excerpts:
This collection has a childlike innocence and feminine appeal. How did you infuse a wisp of spring into the collection?
Don’t forget that I spend half of my time in Paris and members of my team live in Paris. Both the SS12 Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton collections were born from an idea of romanticism and freshness that we translated in a different way for the two brands.
Comment on the romantic and everlasting appeal of lace that appears in this collection.
While the clothes are simple, there is a multilayered construction. We used cellophane over printed lace and broderie anglaise. The clothes move lightly through the air or allow air to flow through them. They have a cloud-like quality, almost dream-like. Even where there is definition, there is nothing too strict or hard.
Are separates back?
There is a lot of craftsmanship in this collection...
It is amazing. I have an incredible team and atelier, as well as the design team at Louis Vuitton. We did things that we have never done before, like the beautiful eggshell lacquered bag. The meticulous creation of the bag involved a skill that was much more common in the 1920s, but today only one artisan remains. In one case, it took 6 hours to cut the back of one coat and to match all of the plates. We were involved in developing all of the materials, including laser-cut fake leather and special crocodile finishes. It was all very subtle and required an enormous level of craftsmanship, of savoir faire.
This collection has a childlike innocence and feminine appeal. How did you infuse a wisp of spring into the collection?
Show
stopper: Marc Jacobs designed the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012
collection inspired by the Parisian spring. Photo by Solve Sundsbo for
Louis Vuitton.
The collection is loving and beautiful, tender,
feminine and soft. It’s fresh and clean like the spring, when love is a
possibility. I thought of the spring and specifically, spring in Paris.
Even the carousel (the collection was showcased with a carousel in the
background) comes from the Parisian Tuileries gardens spring fair.
Something that is naïve and simple. Something that can be seen as a
metaphor for the continuity of fashion and the seasons as they go round
and round.Given that one’s environment influences the work
of a designer, how did busy, buzzing New York City inspire you to create
a collection that was so in tune with nature?Don’t forget that I spend half of my time in Paris and members of my team live in Paris. Both the SS12 Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton collections were born from an idea of romanticism and freshness that we translated in a different way for the two brands.
Comment on the romantic and everlasting appeal of lace that appears in this collection.
While the clothes are simple, there is a multilayered construction. We used cellophane over printed lace and broderie anglaise. The clothes move lightly through the air or allow air to flow through them. They have a cloud-like quality, almost dream-like. Even where there is definition, there is nothing too strict or hard.
Are separates back?
Dream-like:
Organza-wrapped broderie anglaise shirt (€2,700, or around Rs1.77 lakh)
and skirt (€1,800) with three-strap vernis mules (€950). Photo:
Courtesy Louis Vuitton.
We love to play with clothes in an
unexpected way… We like to play with feminine and masculine, with
dresses and different pieces, with layering, with the contrast between
rich and innovative materials… This is our interpretation of fashion…What are the colours, fabrics to look out for in spring-summer?The
colours are kind, generous and pretty, like the spring. They are
translucent; sometimes with white layered over them to create a frosted,
almost sugary feel—like spun sugar. It should have defined shapes, but
with softness created by using layers of synthetics, georgette, lace and
broderie anglaise.There is a lot of craftsmanship in this collection...
It is amazing. I have an incredible team and atelier, as well as the design team at Louis Vuitton. We did things that we have never done before, like the beautiful eggshell lacquered bag. The meticulous creation of the bag involved a skill that was much more common in the 1920s, but today only one artisan remains. In one case, it took 6 hours to cut the back of one coat and to match all of the plates. We were involved in developing all of the materials, including laser-cut fake leather and special crocodile finishes. It was all very subtle and required an enormous level of craftsmanship, of savoir faire.
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