Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs was born on the 9 April, 1963 in New York City and grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey. He is an American fashion designer and the head designer for Marc Jacobs. Marc Jacobs held an early interest in fashion, working as a stock boy at Charivari, a NYC clothing boutique while attending the High School of Art and Design. He graduated in 1981 and quickly enrolled at the Parsons School of Design. Not one to be held back, Jacobs had already designed and sold his first collection (of hand-knit sweaters for Sketchbook) before he had graduated from Parsons.

 In 1997, Jacobs was appointed Creative Director of luxury French fashion house, Louis Vuitton, where he created the company's first ready-to-wear line.  At Louis Vuitton, he has been triumphant in revamping the famous accessory line and has collaborated with the likes of Steven Sprouse, Julie Verhoeven, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince.

In 1986 Jacobs designed his first collection with the Marc Jacobs label. The following year, Jacobs received the distinct honour of being the youngest designer ever to be awarded the fashion industry’s highest tribute

The company has expanded to more than 60 stores worldwide and currently produces six fragrances, 2 eyewear collections, a line of watches, shoes, handbags, accessories, jewellery,  sunglasses and a table top collection with partner Waterford Wedgewood that launched in December 2006.

Although Marc Jacobs is the creative director for both Louis Vuitton and his own line, he has been very successful in creating completely different images within the two labels. As a designer, it is difficult to develop two completely different lines but Marc Jacobs seems to have been successful in doing so. Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs offer similar products, displaying completely different images.

Louis Vuitton is a more sophisticated, higher-end label whereas Marc Jacobs is a more casual (still high-end) designer label with a street-savvy approach to fashion. Marc Jacobs has a number of popular lines including Marc by Marc Jacobs, Stinky Rat and Little Marc (children’s line). Each line has seen significant amounts of praise from audiences and fashion critics. Marc Jacobs remains one of the most popular fashion icons of both the 20^th and 21^st centuries.