Designer Marc Jacobs closes AW17 of New York Fashion Week with an uncharacteristically silent and social media free show.
A far cry from last year’s incredible rave, this year’s AW17 was less glamorous and unusually quiet to the disappointment for some fashion lovers. The runway resided in an unfurnished and empty warehouse. The runway itself marked out by two long rows of chairs without a carpet. To the bewilderment of many onlookers, there was no background music present. Instead, Marc Jacobs had his models walk to the sound of their footsteps against the unglazed wooden floor. The show was later followed by an outdoor assembly of the models. What was even more surprising, Jacobs demanded the runway a social media free zone and that the viewers watch in relative silence.
Despite the initial confusion for the first few minutes of the show, everything ‘clicked’. The value of ‘Respect’ was this year’s closing theme for Marc Jacobs. The models provided the music with their footsteps (and the audience’s occasional running commentary). They provided the entertainment, the clothing designs. The models were the focal point this year. The audience were not just watching the show. They were a part of it! We applaud the designer’s ingenious and artistic methods to immerse his audience. This year, the designer wished to highlight what fashion week is really about. With his rave back in 2016, Jacobs touched on the glamorous side of fashion. AW17 shows fashion’s raw side and what really goes behind the scenes. You want a fashion show, Marc Jacobs will give you one in all its beauty and grittiness.
Much of this year’s and last year’s clothing was greatly inspired by hip-hop culture.
To Jacobs, hip-hop was “The pivotal culture movement… which gave way to a whole new language style/street fashion”
However, the ‘real show’ was saved at the very end during the assembly follow up. Models took to the streets of New York and sat against a giant sound system, close to photographers and the audience. Only then did Marc Jacobs lift the social media free ban and popular music began to blare out from the speakers. At this time, the public were given the opportunity to see the clothing designs up close and appreciate the variety of patterns, trims, fur and flares. It also allowed the audience to briefly interact with the models. In a three way turn of events, Marc Jacob allowed his audience to get know the model, the clothing and the brand. Once again, Marc Jacobs you’re a genius!
For further fun, rather than have a prearranged photoshoot for this year’s collection, Jacobs supplied each of his models with an iPhone 7 with their own stylised Marc Jacob cases (lucky things) and asked them to take snap shots of the event through their eyes. Through a series of unique gallery posts including refreshingly candid moments of the event and cute selfies, Marc Jacobs gives us a behind the scenes look to his AW17 show. And it’s entirely based on the points of view of his models. Talk about meta?
You can find more of these amazingly chic shots in the following website. Keep surprising the fashion world Marc Jacobs! We can’t wait to see what you have in store for us next year!