BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF MARC JACOBS
Held in the New York Public Library, Marc Jacobs presented his collection, Beauty. He tells us with every stitch, and previous collections, what beauty means to him: “one or more qualities that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is often associated with properties such as harmony of form or color, proportion, and authenticity,” and play with proportions he did.
Courtesy of Marc Jacobs
In today’s world, especially that of social media, there are communities and controversies surrounding the visuals of people changing, enhancing, removing, and accentuating parts of their body which much of humanity has done throughout the history of fashion. Marc Jacobs explores the way in which the Victorian era did so with the hoop skirt to the ever-pressing question of what exactly someone asked for during a breast augmentation consultation in today’s time. In both, we have worn heels to make us look taller and highlight the leg.
Courtesy of Matte Projects/Marc Jacobs
The newly released The Materialist, directed by Celine Song, featured Pedro Pascal getting leg-lengthening surgery. Nearly dystopian yet almost reasonable, the changes we as humans have made to our bodies reflect the times and what certain collectives and cultures find beautiful. Marc Jacobs manipulates these notions in a surrealistic manner, creating a modern, high-fashion Alice in Wonderland. There is always a white rabbit tempting us to a chase.
Courtesy of Clint Spaulding/Marc Jacobs
Dame Pat McGrath created individual paintings on each model’s face, paying extra attention to the eyes, cheeks, and lips. The result is a vintage illustration of beauty with the saturated quality of a cherub. Soft yet sharp, blotted yet defined.
Courtesy of Marc Jacobs
No matter where you looked during the show, you were bound to stare and admire the use of lace amongst a mirage of structure and fabrics. In gothic silhouettes, lace comes alive and forms friendship with gravity-fearing construction. Hips protrude over curved, stilt-like shoes, creating an abstract form of femininity.
Courtesy of Marc Jacobs
Bows and ruffles grew out of the dresses, from the front and behind. With hair done by Duffy, bows that were both big and small were fixed atop the models’ heads, creating unique looks that complimented the theatricality of the show; cohesive, yet separate, highlighting the poetry in the impractical.
Courtesy of Clint Spaulding/Marc Jacobs
We are reminded that fashion is fun and can be seriously unserious when the right designer is given the tools to do it authentically. At his core, Marc Jacobs is an artist. Beauty is exaggerated, bold, and holds a distorted mirror to its audience.
Article by Seana Watson, Associate Fashion Editor, PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Daniel López, Art Director, PhotoBook Magazine
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