BIOGRAPHY

Marc Jacobs was born in New York City on April 9, 1963. After graduating from the High School of Art and Design in 1981 he entered Parson’s School of Design. As a design student at Parson’s, Jacobs was the recipient of some of the schools highest honors including Design Student of the Year.

In 1986 Jacobs designed his first collection with the Marc Jacobs label. The following year, Jacobs received the distinct honor of being the youngest designer ever to be awarded the fashion industry’s highest tribute: The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Perry Ellis Award for New Fashion Talent.

In 1989 Jacobs and business partner Robert Duffy joined Perry Ellis as Vice-President of Women’s Design and President respectively. In 1992, the CFDA once again bestowed Jacobs with a distinct honor: the Women’s Designer of the Year Award for his fabled Grunge Collection.

In the fall of 1993, Jacobs Duffy Designs Inc. launched their own licensing and design company: Marc Jacobs International Company, L.P.  

Jacobs and Duffy joined Louis Vuitton in 1997, Jacobs as Artistic Director and Duffy as Studio Director.

Jacobs introduced the secondary line, Marc by Marc Jacobs, with a spring 2001 runway show. He has gone on to win seven CFDA awards including Womenswear Designer of the Year, Accessories Designer of the Year and Menswear designer of the year.

The first multi-brand store in the U.S. opened in August 2004 on Boston’s Newbury Street and May 2005 brought the opening of 3 new stores in Los Angeles. The company opened their first free-standing European store in Paris at The Palais Royale in January, 2006 and followed with a London location in February, 2007. This year will also bring the opening of the Savannah store, a seasonal store in Provincetown, a multi-brand store in Moscow and a flagship store in Tokyo along with many others.  

The company has expanded to more than 50 stores worldwide and currently produces six fragrances an eyewear collection, two full lines of watches, and a table top collection with partner Waterford Wedgewood that launched in December 2006.

Multiple freestanding stores and shop–in-shops continue to open domestically and across the Far East. Currently Marc Jacobs Collection and Marc by Marc Jacobs stores can be found in four locations in Hong Kong, four locations in Taiwan, twenty-five locations in Japan (including flagships in Osaka and Aoyama) and five  locations in Korea.

2007 marked the opening of a Men’s and Women’s Collection store on London’s Mount Street as well as a multi-brand store in historic Savannah, Georgia, a multi brand store in Tokyo and a Collection store in Moscow. Additionally the company produced the first collection of Marc by Marc Jacobs eyewear and released a new fragrance, Daisy, in September.  

Marc Jacobs and Robert Duffy are committed to giving back to the communities where they have stores and have been involved with over 60 charities. The continual support of these charitable projects continues to be a top priority.