BY MEAGAN HU

In print | Published March 20, 2008

I’ve managed to get halfway through the semester without even alluding to Marc Jacobs, but that’s about to end because of the recent New York Fashion Week show for his Fall 2008 collection. One disclaimer here: my interpretation of the show is limited to what YouTube will offer. Nonetheless, I was able to experience enough of the show for it to have inspired a column. It wasn’t just a fashion show. It was also a live Sonic Youth concert. Models in suits, skirts, coats and gowns all constructed with the unifying motif of a bubble silhouette, with voluminous balloons of fabric gathered at the lower back, paraded in a semi-circle around the band as they performed “Jams Run Free” and “Kool Thing.”

In interviews, Mr. Jacobs’ demeanor was coy, remarking, “I wasn’t very inspired this season. I just live my life.” This marked a distinct change from his behavior at last season’s shows, when, fresh out of rehab, he was two hours late in starting the Marc Jacobs show, and at the end of his Louis Vuitton show, stuck out his tongue at the fashion critic Suzy Menkes for a rather unfavorable review she wrote of him. Needless to say, he became an easy target of media criticism. This time around, however, Mr. Jacobs seemed intent on not creating a spectacle of himself and his show, which only started 17 minutes late. The designer himself even came out beforehand to tell guests to hurry up and take their seats. And for the finale, rather than have the models come back out for an encore parade, they merely stood on a balcony suspended from the dimly lit rafters while Kim Gordon chanted the last few lines of “Kool Thing.”

The clothes, like Marc Jacobs’ approach to this show, were rather calm and subdued, enveloping the models in a muted pallete of grays and pastels that in stark contrast to his last collection for Spring 2008. There, the clothes were deconstructed, revealing and pulsating with color, necessary to inviting a strong reaction from the audience in order to exact their full effect. The pieces for the Fall 2008 collection, however, were more self-contained and inward-looking, relying neither on the audience nor on the manipulation of previous ideas to derive meaning. The clothes encased the models in a cocoon of sorts, creating a sense of distance between the viewer and the model, a sense that was emphasized by the dissonant riffs of Sonic Youth. And the juxtaposition of the models, stiff and stately while marching across the stage, with Kim Gordon, gyrating in a black and white sequined mini-dress, compounded a sense of detachment.

One of the most striking looks of the collection was one in which the model’s face was enshrouded in a sheer white veil, which to me recalled the Magritte painting “The Lovers” in which a man and woman kiss from behind white cloths which cover each of their heads. In both cases, the cloth over the face prevents others from being able to see or understand the person underneath. Within the context of “The Lovers,” that’s quite a bleak prospect. But within the context of the fashion show and the recent controversy surrounding Mr. Jacob’s personal life, it’s somewhat comforting. In this way, his approach to this show stands as a sort of retreat from all the flashiness and often mindless hype that fashion can induce. Of course, a Marc Jacobs show never fails to be a spectacle, but here the spectacle had more to do with Kim Gordon’s presence (as probably the hottest 54-year-old you’ll ever see) rather than with the clothes.

The clothes suggested a safe haven for those days when you would rather not step outside the house but must. This message seemed particularly appropriate, considering Mr. Jacob’s high-profile celebrity clientele, who at times could probably benefit from this type of anonymity. During the song “Kool Thing,” after Kim Gordon sang the line “Are you gonna liberate us girls from male, white, corporate domination?” she ad-libbed, “Are you gonna liberate Britney?” I don’t have the time (or care) to figure out all the drama going on in that poor woman’s life. All I know is that six months after YouTube superstar Chris Crocker passionately implored the media to LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE, it seems that people are more intent than ever on getting into her business, to the point where last month, she was admitted to a hospital for mental health reasons. And with this Fall 2008 collection, Mr. Jacobs seems to have suggested his version of an antidote to this problem of being unable to escape the system that perpetuates all the flashing lights. Here, he proposed a sartorial shield, a way to avoid constantly being on display for others so that you can somehow separate yourself from the media circus when they just won’t leave you alone.

Meagan is a senior. You can reach her at mhu1@swarthmore.edu.

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