The Shophound

LEMONADE FROM LEMONS: Marc Jacobs Makes The Most Of A Bad Situation

What do you do when you are faced with an unexpected, aggravating misfortune that is beyond your control?
If you are Marc Jacobs, you make a t-shirt.

You may remember hearing a few months ago that Jacobs' entire 46-look European sample line for Spring 2012 was stolen off the Eurostar train between London and Paris. So far as we know, the clothes have never been recovered, throwing a wrench into the designer's European Press activities, and to remind people of the designer's predicament, he has placed a mock "Wanted"-style bulletin in the window of his Mercer Street Collection boutique with a strangely Unabomber-esque sketch of a totally unidentifiable perp.

Of course, the poster is also available as a t-shirt, presumably for sale inside the store. We're not sure that the proceeds from the tees will make up for the expensive theft of an entire sample line, but a little humor can always ease the sting of a costly loss. As the bulletin states: "The thief is still at large and considered dressed to kill."

Marc Jacobs 163 Mercer Street between Houston & Prince Streets, SoHo

CFDA Award Nominees Announced With Special Awards For The Sartorialist, Comme des Garçons & Johnny Depp

The annual CFDA Fashion Awards were announced yesterday. We are not entirely sure how much these awards affect sales or customers' perceptions of designers, but, lets face it, the fashion industry enjoys patting itself on the back almost as much as the entertainment industry, and it's another occasion for people to dress up in borrowed clothes and be photographed. On the plus side, Marc Jacobs and Alexander Wang were only nominated one time each this year (the Proenza Schouler boys still rated two), leaving some room for a few more designers to horn in on the attention, so that's progress.

Here are the nominees:

Womenswear Designer of the Year Nominees:
Ashley Olsen & Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row
Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez for Proenza Schouler
Marc Jacobs

Menswear Designer of the Year Nominees:
Billy Reid
Patrik Ervell
Simon Spurr

Accessory Designer of the Year Nominees:
Alexander Wang
Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez for Proenza Schouler
Reed Krakoff

Swarovski Award for Womenswear Nominees:
Chris Peters & Shane Gabier for Creatures of the Wind
Joseph Altuzarra
Max Osterweis & Erin Beatty for Suno

Swarovski Award for Menswear Nominees:
Antonio Azzuolo
Phillip Lim
Todd Snyder

Award for Accessory Design Nominees:
Irene Neuwirth
Pamela Love
Tabitha Simmons

In addition, several additional honors include The Eugenia Sheppard Media Award which will go jointly to The Sartorialist's Scott Schuman and his fellow style blogger and paramour Garance Doré.
The Eleanor Lambert Founders Award for promoting American Fashion will go to Theory executive Andrew Rosen.
The Fashion Icon Award will go to its first male recipient, Johnny Depp.
The International Award will go to Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons, and finally, the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Tommy Hilfiger, so... make of that what you will.

The awards will be presented on Monday, June 4^th at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, and will be hosted by Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers.

2012 CFDA Fashion Awards Nominees & Honorees Announced (CFDA Official Site)

TODAY IN ANTICLIMAX: CFDA Awards For 2011 Announced

The CFDA announced their 2011 Awards nominees and honorees yesterday evening, and how you feel about them depends on whether you see award ceremonies as recognition for actual achievement or simply an opportunity for industry promotion and general sucking up.

Alexander Wang got nominated three times. Proenza Schouler got two nods, and four-time-winner Marc Jacobs is guaranteed one award while nominated for yet another. That should help you form your opinion.

The Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award will go to 47-year-old Jacobs. Hopefully this is not a indication that the CFDA's nominators think he will die soon. The Olsen Twins garnered a nomination, which should probably lead to some griping about celebrity designers, but the high level of workmanship and quality in their line, The Row has gone a long way to establishing credibility for the erstwhile child stars. Their nomination is the kind of surprise that keeps the entire awards affair from seeming ever more banal.

Additionally, a well deserved Special Tribute will go to veteran photographer Arthur Elgort. The International Award will go to Céline designer Phoebe Philo whose remarkable comeback can't be ignored. The Eugenia Sheppard Media Award will go to Hilary Alexander of The Telegraph even though neither the recipient nor her publication are actually American. The Founders Award will go to Hal Rubenstein of InStyle. The Fashion Icon Award will go to Lady Gaga whose personal style has become something of a small industry iself. If she accepts the award in person, it's a safe bet she will upstage a crowd that is notoriously difficult to overshadow.

Here are the somewhat predictable nominees for the other award categories:

WOMENSWEAR DESIGNER of the YEAR:
Alexander Wang
Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez for Proenza Schouler
Marc Jacobs

MENSWEAR DESIGNER of the YEAR:
Michael Bastian
Patrik Ervell
Simon Spurr

ACCESSORY DESIGNER of the YEAR:
Alexander Wang
Jack McCollough & Lazaro Hernandez for Proenza Schouler
Reed Krakoff.

SWAROVSKI AWARD for NEW WOMENSWEAR DESIGNER:
Joseph Altuzarra
Ashley Olsen & Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row
Prabal Gurung

SWAROVSKI AWARD for NEW MENSWEAR DESIGNER:
Alexander Wang
Phillip Lim
Robert Geller

SWAROVSKI AWARD for NEW ACCESSORY DESIGNER
Alejandro Ingelmo
Eddie Borgo
Jason Wu
Pamela Love

The Awards will be presented on June 6th at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

FLAGSHIP WATCH: Marc Jacobs Officially Headed To Madison Avenue

The Shophound has known for a long time that the folks at Marc Jacobs were actively looking for an uptown location, but you know how picky these people are. It can take years to settle on a space ...and it has. In today's WWD, Marc Jacobs International President Robert Duffy confirmed that the company is in negotiations to take over Madison Avenue's Chase Manhattan Bank building. We are assuming it's the one at 64^th Street pictured above in today's snow. Though the charming Colonial revival building hardly seems like the typical designer flagship structure, it's the only building that seems to fit the description in WWD located in the desirable designer district between 57^th and 72^nd Streets. “There’s only been one tenant in that space for 93 years. Once I find a space, I never give up on the space.” he tells the paper, revealing that he has been working on securing the location for a very long time.

No other details have been disclosed, but Duffy suggests that a store opening will be a long way off. Apparently, there's a bit of asbestos removal and all kinds of renovations to be arranged before we see a store, and that could take while longer, so sit tight uptown MJ fans. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

Robert Duffy Reveals Plans for Marc Jacobs (WWD)

THE WINDOW WATCHER: Marc Jacobs' Bleecker Street Disco

Soon enough, Marc Jacobs' Bleecker Street women's shop will be covered with photos of cheery customers and his annual Holiday Mascot. In the past, this has brought us Santa or some other similarly cuddly figure, but this year, we discovered the above sexy babe shimmying in the window in a lamé gown. It looks like Marc will be celebrating the Holidays with a trip on the Soul Train which, to The Shophound, sounds like... THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER! So in the words of Don Cornelius: "You can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas, honey!"

BLEECKER STREET MOVES: Marc Jacobs' Bookmarc Opens While Collection Accessories Returns

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When The Shophound heard that Marc Jacobs was taking over the Biography Bookshop's space we weren't particularly surprised, but when we heard that the designer was going to keep the space as a bookshop, our eyebrows did go up a bit.

After all, if the precious tenant couldn't handle the rent increase, how could Jacobs make it profitable by selling the same product? Make no mistake, no designer, no matter how successful, is out to invest in whimsically prestigious loss leaders at this particular economic moment.

Our understanding was illuminated yesterday morning when we passed by to see that that Bookmarc, the new store, would be selling not paperbacks and bestsellers but the beautiful —and expensive— art and coffee table books that had been mixed in with the goods in his other stores. Well, now it all makes more sense. Company President Robert Duffy promises that there was never any intention that the store should be anything other than a bookstore, but it will also include some clever and affordable desk and writing accessories to round out the assortments. As for the company's concentration of shops and their controversial effect on the area, Duffy remains on the defensive,  telling WWD,

Is it good for the neighborhood, bad for the neighborhood? I don’t know. My original store there was a dentist office that was in terrible disrepair.…I did my research. I found the original pictures of that store from 18-whatever, and I put in big plateglass windows, which were there in 18-whatever. Did it revitalize the street in a way? Did it make it a shopping street in a way? I didn’t ask everybody else to follow me there.…I think that having the men’s stores on West Fourth is much better than having two empty storefronts.

There will, of course, be no shortage of neighborhood kvetching about how Jacobs has ruined the West Village (old news at this point) but keep in mind that if it wasn't him, it could have been another Juicy Couture-type store that would have taken the highly desirable corner store. Not looking so bad anymore.

In fact, as if in response to the legitimate gripes about the endless crowds and lines outside the Marc by Marc Jacobs Accessories store for its inexpensive baubles and gifts, Jacobs has announced that that particular part of his local emperor will be returning to its original form as a luxe Collection accessories store, featuring his top line of handbags. The cheap trinkets that the kids love will now be distributed among his other boutiques.

Bookmarc by Marc Jacobs 400 Bleecker Street at West 11th Street, West Village
Marc Jacobs 'Bookmarc' Store Opens on Bleecker Street (WWD)

Gay Pride Gets Toned Down On Bleecker This Year

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We haven't done a full survey, but we are pretty sure that the Black Fleece store on Bleecker Street is the only Brooks Brothers location with Gay Pride rainbow flags in its windows (pictured above). We wouldn't actually expect to see them anywhere else. Every year at the end of June, however, several of the stores on Bleecker seem to be in a competition to see who can look extra gay for a few weeks, even if its just a few flags tossed in like Black Fleece has. This year, however, things seem a bit more subdued even as, ironically, gay issues like Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Marriage Equality move to the political forefront. Perhaps last year's exuberance was too much for the increasingly tourist packed crowds shopping on Bleecker.

Are the multicolored lights on the "R" and "L" in Ralph Lauren's men's shop windows (at left) meant to represent a rainbow? If so, it's a much subtler message than the racks of rainbow polo shirts he has used in season's past, although the mannequins dressed to go right to The White Party, which is pretty gay.

Marc Jacobs, generally the leader in this activity, has settled on a message, "That's so gay! Be proud!" inscribed on the windows of each of his stores (at right). It's a clever subversion of the persistent pejorative use of the word "gay", and though it's much quieter than last year's exuberant graffiti, it's definitely an improvement over the "Rebel Pride" t-shirts from a couple of years ago, which didn't go over so well as we recall.

Newcomer Gant Rugger (at left) joins in with a "Happy Plaid" message (oh, the puns this year!) and polo shirts layered to recall rainbow colors, a solid effort with little window space.

And finally, we're not entirely sure if John Bartlett's new Tiny Tim rainbow tees around the corner in his 7^th Avenue windows (below) are specifically meant for Gay Pride. They feature John's own three-legged dog and mascot, and a portion of their proceeds go to the North Shore Animal League, but aesthetically, they fit the theme, so we'll give him credit for double duty in the West Village. 

Previously,
Ralph, Marc & Bloomingdale's Commemorate As Gay Pride Hits Middle Age
Can Marc Jacobs Make The Rainbow Flag Chic?

TODAY IN EXPOSURE: ...And For Those Of You Out There Who Haven't Seen A Naked Picture Of Marc Jacobs Lately

About eighteen months ago, the media was lousy with pictures of Marc Jacobs in the altogether. It seemed like everywhere you turned the still recently trimmed down, toned up and tattooed designer was taking any and every opportunity to be photographed without clothes to the point where it started to become comical. At one point, we wondered if he was in a competition with Tom Ford (who had also developed a penchant for being photographed unclothed for magazines) to see who could get the most naked pictures published of himself, and then, mercifully, it all stopped, and Jacobs went back to wearing clothes -skirts, mostly, but clothes all the same.

We figured he had gotten it out of his system, but no, he was just biding his time for the right opportunity to take it all off again. This morning, we discovered that his new men's fragrance, BANG, will have a naked Jacobs as its model, photographed by his steady campaign photographer Juergen Teller (pictured above left, with a larger, slightly NSFW version after the jump). From the sounds of WWD's report, it took about zero arm-twisting to get the designer oiled up and in front of the camera again,

“Robert and I work closely with Coty on these projects, and he said, ‘Marc, you look so great now — you should be the model for men’s fragrance.’ My immediate reaction was, I don’t know. But then I came to see that it made sense. Men’s fragrance, unlike women’s in a certain way, is very personal. It’s a layer on top of skin — for women, it can be like changing a makeup color, but not for men.

“Once I agreed to be the model, I couldn’t see what I would wear to express this. We tried it with clothes, but it didn’t work. Then Juergen [Teller, who shot the campaign] had the idea for the silver Mylar, and it all came together. The silver Mylar also gives it that flash, that bang.”

We're betting it didn't even take that much convincing to get his kit off.

BANG debuts July 30 at Bloomingdale’s and Marc Jacobs stores, rolling out to 1,800 department and specialty stores in September when the ads break.

Marc Jacobs Heads Into Men's Scent Market (WWD)

Halloween Windows Report: Thrills & Chills On Bleecker Street

Lots of Bleecker Street's stores make an extra effort for Halloween windows, but it basically comes down to a battle between Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs to see who can concoct the spookiest display.
Ralph has the edge, of course, with four separate shops on the street to Marc's three (for now), but his sensibility leans more toward the genteel, with a Miss Havisham look in his women's store, and a more conceptual mannequin factory for the men. The obvious comparison would be the dueling side-by-side Great Pumpkin displays in both designers' children's stores. We'll call that one a draw.
We were a bit more repulsed by the pair of explorers in Ralph's RRL shop (below) who appear to have sat down one day a century ago and never gotten up, but they still had that pristine hyperstyled Polo Shop look despite their lack of flesh.
In contrast, Marc has mostly eschewed the idea of showing merchandise in his windows, turning his women's Marc by Marc windows into a dark, grisly swamp complete with animated ghouls emerging from the sludge —too dark, unfortunately for us to successfully photograph. It was, however, the Marc by Marc Accessories shop (pictured above) that impressed us the most with a simple concept executed perfectly: Heaps of skulls and bones neatly arranged as a macabre wall covering with a warning clearly posted at eye level. "Stop. You are entering the valley of the shadow of death..." Simple, to the point and yet really, really gross.
Match goes to Jacobs.

Moves On Bleecker: It's Official (Almost) Marc Takes Biography Bookshop

We have been speculating over the fate of the Biography Bookshop space for a while, and the building's owner has confirmed to WWD what many suspected: Marc Jacobs will be moving in to open an as yet unannounced new concept store. Jacobs President Robert Duffy hinted several months ago that there were expansion plans afoot on Bleecker Street, but offered no specific details, and the company is still mum on the topic. Reportedly, the designer's lease on the enviable 500 square foot corner shop at 400 Bleecker will begin in February 2010, which suggests that a new store will be open next Spring, making a whopping six freestanding stores for Jacobs in the West Village —four of them on Bleecker.
As for the bookshop, as reported before, it will be moving further east on Bleecker and renaming itself Bookbook.
Marc Jacobs Set for Another Store on Bleecker by Sharon Edelson (WWD)
Previously, Extended Relocations: Biography Bookshop Transitions Down The Street