Does unifying all clothing and accessories lines under one label, give more value to a brand? Well, according to sources at WWD, that may be what Jacobs is doing to bring more value to his eponymous brand, Marc Jacobs.
Since New York Fashion Week, the fashion cognoscenti have been hinting that there would be some dramatic changes at Marc Jacobs. It has now been revealed that Marc Jacobs will absorb Marc by Marc Jacobs into a single-label brand, culminating in luxury and contemporary lines with a range of prices and merchandise. The purpose of this merger is to produce a cohesive voice across all product platforms.
This absorption has been in the works since Marc Jacobs left Louis Vuitton in 2013 with a possible IPO offering in the works. At the time of Jacobs’ departure from Louis Vuitton, LVMH chairman Berand Arnault detailed to WWD, “the first step is to put in place the organization, and to complete the business plan, which requires retail organization, retail investment and more products. These steps have already started. This will take time, maybe two or three years, to be completely in place.”
The Marc by Marc Jacobs brand has several stores near each other in lower Manhattan, and fashion insiders question the impact on those stores with the announcement of the merger, as well as staff restructuring. Marc by Marc Jacobs creative director, Katie Hillier, and women’s design director, Louella Bartley’s—both hired in 2013—tenure at Marc by Marc Jacobs is in question.
—William S. Gooch
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