Marc Jacobs is just not the same

Since 1997 when he was appointed creative director of Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs has been synonymous with luxury. The designer is easily a household name, and is known by everyone including those buying his rollerball fragrances at Sephora to the ladies and gentlemen shopping in SoHo, where he opened his first boutique in 1997. For the past several years though, Jacobs' collections have been, to put it politely, lackluster.

The proof is also in his sales figures. Last year when Marc Jacobs' parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton sold DKNY to G-III, there was speculation that it would also sell the underperforming Marc Jacobs brand as well. However, this idea was quickly dismissed by LVMH cfo Jean-Jacques Guiony who said "This is not an idea that has crossed our mind. We believe in the long-term potential of the brand and we are convinced we can create value at Marc Jacobs.” While LVMH does not publish figures for individual brands, Marc Jacobs was one of their worst performing.

Jacobs was once the luxury conglomerate's golden boy, helping the company rake in major revenue from the coveted designs he churned out for Louis Vuitton. However, at some point between his divorce from Louis Vuitton and an attempt at emerging himself in solely his own brand, he got lost along the way.

Marc Jacobs no longer the designer he used to be

The first collection he presented for fall 2014 was an array of scoop neck tank sweaters, and a color palette that was a combination of neutrals and pastels. They were the perfect outfits for someone who had a luxury spa date planned, but not someone looking for an outfit to compete with other luxury brands like Gucci, Prada and Burberry.

For a man whose collections were once known for sequins, color blocks, bows, and bold colored sweaters, it was like he lost a bit of himself.

One potential reason for that: he plans on launching an IPO for the brand. The potential of Marc Jacobs going public has been the talk of the town for over two years now. In the wake of a potential IPO, Jacobs even put an end to his popular diffusion line Marc by Marc Jacobs so he could bring his entire collection under one name. It was seen as one of the first majors steps toward going public that would appeal to investors. However, at the time the problem with this was 70 percent of retailers and department stores carried his diffusion line, but not his main line.

His main line was originally at a much higher price point, but after consolidating the line into one, the range of price points expanded as well. However, this did not mean the quality of designs expanded.

For spring 2015, the designs were not-so-interestingly uniform, and appeared to be inspired by a combination of army uniforms and nurse scrubs. While high-fashion often finds inspiration in the utilitarian, this was one of those times where the inspiration missed the mark.

After years of giving so much to Louis Vuitton, it's like Jacobs was left with little to give his own brand.

His spring/summer 2017 collection, which hit retail this week, made headlines last fall, but for none of the right reasons. There was controversy over his choice to feature models with dreadlocks, which many saw as offensive and inappropriate given the relation of dreadlocks to Black culture and his show featuring predominantly White models. If your clothes aren't making headlines, something had to.

As for his most recent fall collection which debuted at New York Fashion Week, it was like he took the "throw something against the wall until it sticks" approach. He's gone from loungewear inspiration to outer space inspiration, and he finally decided to take a chance on hip-hop inspiration.

Between his coats that looked like something Lil' Kim wore in the nineties to the track pants that looked like an upscale version of Juicy Couture, there was nothing that really said Marc Jacobs. There was no sophistication, just an attempt at trying to sell some clothes.

Jacobs would do well to revisit his archives and try and find himself again. The fact that a man who was once one of the industry's most respected designers has fallen so far from grace is truly, for lack of a better word, tragic. What happened to the tailored blazers, the office chic knits and those Hollywood worthy cocktail dresses?

Every season gives Jacobs a new chance to get it right, but there are only so many chances to give. Maybe he will just get lucky with this hip-hop inspired collection, as the particular music genre has long been a major influencer of the fashion industry. The outfits were street style worthy, but now how will the street style stars respond?

Until then, will the real Marc Jacobs please stand up?

photo:images via Marcjacobs.com