Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs
In 1997, the fashion world had a huge shake-up. Marc Jacobs joined Louis Vuitton as creative director and reimagined the brand for the runway, with garments and accessories that LV had never created before. Originally a luxury luggage brand, the LV monogram is now a symbol of the most famous fashion house in the world. How did Marc Jacobs and his infamous collabs under Louis Vuitton shape the brand into what we now see at fashion week, awards shows, and ateliers?
Louis Vuitton: The Marc Jacobs Era — RTW Fall 2013, courtesy of WWD Archive. Available via WWD © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
The History of Louis Vuitton
Long before Marc Jacobs was on the Paris fashion scene, Louis Vuitton was a luxury luggage and leather goods brand. Vuitton’s roots go back to his success as a layetier, a trade he developed proficiency for during an apprenticeship with Monsieur Marechal, a trunk designer, in 1837. Louis Vuitton was 16 at the time, and already had the skills to construct a successful business. The specialist skills of craftsmen were needed to create boxes and trunks to protect and store belongings during travel.
Vuitton was quickly regarded as a highly valued layetier while with Monsieur Marechal for his innovative ideas, for example, the introduction of flat, stackable luggage trunks. Such products meant space for items was maximised, and multiple trunks could be stacked on top of one another. Before this, typically only circular trunks were on the market so this was a substantial revolution for the industry. Although LV is regarded as a fashion house today, traditional trunks are still handcrafted in France and sold via the Louis Vuitton website. Timeless. 17 years later, Louis Vuitton expanded his aptitude for crafting to his own workshop, positioning his own brand in a luxury spotlight from the beginning with a diverse skill set and high-quality products. There, he was able to produce custom-designed boxes with special details such as individual compartments - bespoke to the customers’ needs, settling Louis Vuitton as one of the most reliable and valued brands in the luggage industry. No one was doing it like Louis Vuitton. The brand only got bigger from there, and Louis Vuitton relocated to his infamous atelier in Asnières in 1859 to support the demand. This workshop was where all trunks and leather goods by Louis Vuitton himself were crafted; the most exclusive LV products still come directly from here, with some products taking months to be crafted due to their immaculate quality and purposeful materials. Louis Vuitton became a family-run brand, and even more creative inventions were produced from this atelier. For example: the iconic LV monogram, which was designed by Georges Vuitton, and the pioneering ‘unpickable lock’ which they designed together to protect their clients’ belongings from thieves. It is still featured on some Louis Vuitton trunks today. As with fashion, collaboration makes for revolution.
As the decades passed, Louis Vuitton continued to be a beacon of luxury in the luggage and leather goods industry. The brand is now owned by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), a huge empire of 75 brands. The same high standards are maintained, with the same iconic logo by Georges Vuitton, never forgetting the legacy Louis Vuitton and the Vuitton family built. Until their first RTW collection in the 90s, Louis Vuitton remained the premiere luggage and luxury goods brand, once entering the fashion atmosphere with Marc Jacobs’ arrival, they became the premiere luxury clothing brand too…
The Marc Jacobs Louis Vuitton Era
The Marc Jacobs era at Louis Vuitton is one of the greatest fashion revolutions ever. Jacobs was assigned as the first-ever creative director of Louis Vuitton by Bernard Arnault in 1997 and began building his legacy from the very beginning. He was already a successful designer from his experience at other brands such as Perry Ellis, yet Louis Vuitton was a big step up as they had never produced clothing before. LV produced some of their most successful pieces under the creative direction of Marc Jacobs; he has a unique eye for design and a rebellious mindset that favors collaboration in creativity “When things get I-oriented, it’s always a dangerous place to be.” - Marc Jacobs, discussing his legacy at Louis Vuitton with Pharrell Williams, via System stories on YouTube. Hence, his career at LV featured numerous collaborations with some of the world’s most talented designers and artists - ultimately creating some of the most daring accessories and timeless garments in fashion history.
1998. The runways were lined with spectators and every camera was poised towards the first-ever Louis Vuitton Ready To Wear collection, by Marc Jacobs. Throughout his 16-year legacy with LV, he formulated innovative ideas and designs for the company: being daring with the iconic monogram, multiplying the client base, making brazen design choices, and of course, introducing the first clothing collection. It featured an array of minimalist yet chic womenswear pieces, including skirts, tops, and trousers. He intertwined versatile, neutral garments with everyday silhouettes to craft the luxury yet minimalistic aesthetic. This collection is easily one of the most historic for Louis Vuitton, being the first and being so well-received. It married the luxury, exclusive aspect of the brand with everyday fashion to cater to a wider range of customers, from those who search for exclusive luxury garments to those who just want an elevated everyday outfit. At the time, Marc Jacobs said ‘I made a conscious decision not to do what the fashion community expected, electing to show a single handbag and to hide the house’s emblematic Monogram motif almost entirely’ highlighting his bold perspectives of fashion. From the first collection, Jacobs began collaborating with other designers to create a range of aesthetics to set Louis Vuitton as a serious fashion brand. The exploration of such partnerships promoted LV and Marc Jacobs as a designer.
Marc Jacobs x Stephen Sprouse for Louis Vuitton - 2000
One of the most famous and, rightfully so, successful collabs of Marc Jacobs’ tenure at LV was the alliance between Jacobs and Stephen Sprouse. Stephen Sprouse was an astounding fashion designer and artist, still well known for his punk rock, streetwear, and graffiti influences. He was notorious for audacious and different designs, and was excellent at blurring the lines between luxury fashion and streetwear. Fashion is an art form, and with Marc Jacobs also being unafraid to bend the rules of what people expected from Louis Vuitton, Stephen Sprouse was the perfect design partner. Their chemistry resonates through their iconic designs for Louis Vuitton.
Graffiti handbags designed by Stephen Sprouse, with Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton, 2001. Photo by Raymond Meller, for Vogue. Available via British Vogue © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Together, Marc Jacobs and Stephen Sprouse created a collection, featuring original Louis Vuitton trunks covered in graffiti. The timeless Louis Vuitton monogram and logo can still be seen through the handwritten graffiti, merging the luxury aesthetic that Louis Vuitton was well established for, with current trends in fashion, breaking the boundaries surrounding what luxury products should look like. At the time (late 90s/early 00s), streetwear was very popular, highlighting the intelligence and conscious efforts of Marc Jacobs to shift Louis Vuitton to be appealing to many more consumers, and the undeniable ability of Stephen Sprouse… literally defacing a LV bag yet still maintaining the exclusivity. This was a bold move, and is one of the most famous Louis Vuitton collections; celebrities like Kim Kardashian were pictured with the Stephen Sprouse bags. Sprouse had designed garments with a similar font for his own show in 1984; when he was first pioneering on the fashion scene, and when Marc Jacobs first discovered his work. Referring to Sprouse as a ‘fashion hero’ in an interview, it’s clear that Jacobs’ vision to act rebelliously and unpredictably was successful from the start, transforming Louis Vuitton. Over 20 years on, Marc Jacobs paid homage to Stephen Sprouse and his incredible work for the industry with a graffiti-covered rendition of the infamous ‘The Tote Bag’ from Jacobs’ own brand, which he has been working on since leaving LV. On a black leather skeleton, in fluorescent green graffiti font, reads ‘grant me the serenity to chill’, a quote from Stephen Sprouse. Their bond was electric, as were their collective designs. Stephen Sprouse passed away in 2004, but his legacy lives on and he is a personal top pick for one of the most influential fashion designers… ever. He really juxtaposed expectations of the new Louis Vuitton collection and brings streetwear to luxury fashion houses’ doorsteps. Marc Jacobs x Stephen Sprouse for Louis Vuitton. Iconic.
Marc Jacobs x Takashi Murakami for Louis Vuitton - 2003
Another legendary collab that heightened the versatility of Louis Vuitton. Takashi Murakami is a Japanese artist, with a unique and distinguishable portfolio. Well known for taking inspiration from traditional Japanese artistic aesthetics and producing colorful kaleidoscope-esque work, Takashi Murakami added extra flair that Louis Vuitton had never seen before. He incorporated bright colors to reinvent historical Louis Vuitton bags and accessories to produce a brazen new collection alongside Louis Vuitton. Producing the perfect blend of contemporary art and high-end fashion, Murakami’s collection is still one of LV’s highest performing.
This collection produced some of the most memorable Louis Vuitton pieces ever, by reimagining handbags with extra buckles, studs, belts, and reinventing the monogram into a new colorful design. The bags were predominantly of white leather, with the flowers and LV letters in a range of colors. They also released the monocamoflage range together, taking iconic Louis Vuitton bags such as the Speedy and re-releasing them in a camo pattern, adding that extra edge to Louis Vuitton. The work of Murakami and this release were so successful that it received a re-edition this year, ‘reviving the essence of Y2K pop culture’. Zendaya, one of Louis Vuitton’s House ambassadors showcased the re-edition, and said, “A fashion rule I always break? I don’t even think we even believe in those”, which corresponds with Marc Jacobs’ vision for Louis Vuitton. Marc Jacobs brought success after success for Louis Vuitton - constantly bringing out interesting pieces that the brand was unfamiliar with.
Marc Jacobs and Pharrell Williams
The GOAT. It seemed that each year Marc Jacobs was building Louis Vuitton higher. In 2004, he worked with Pharrell Williams and Nigo to produce the first-ever LV sunglasses. Nigo is a Japanese fashion designer and entrepreneur, the founder of streetwear brand A Bathing Ape. He is currently the artistic director of Kenzo. His business partner, Pharrell Williams is an American musician and fashion designer. Nigo and Pharrell founded streetwear brand Billionaire Boys Club together in 2003 before collaborating with Louis Vuitton. In a discussion between Marc and Pharrell via System stories, they each recall the events that lead up to them collaborating differently - Pharrell speaks about an instance where Marc complimented a pair of sunglasses he was wearing (created by Nigo) and invited him to LV to create sunglasses together, prompting Pharrell to invite Nigo, and all three collaborated on Louis Vuitton’s first sunglasses - Millionaires. Pharrell, throughout the chat, is persistently grateful for Marc’s generosity and belief in him (“You opened the doors for us, and then you held the doors open”, “Never in a million years did I think I’d actually meet you”). It proves that collaboration in the music industry can bring the most successful pieces, and Marc Jacobs revolutionized Louis Vuitton through these iconic collabs. Recently, the sunglasses have been very popular on resale sites, with some selling for thousands of dollars. The power of 00s fashion is returning, and the appointment of Pharrell as men’s creative director only accelerates the love for the original Millionaires. The relationship between Lv and Williams really began at this moment with Marc Jacobs. Williams and Jacobs got together again in 2006 to make jewelry for Louis Vuitton following their successes and genuine enjoyment when collaborating.
Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton - The Bigger Picture
Truthfully, the discussion on Jacobs’ most iconic moments and best collabs throughout his Louis Vuitton era could go on forever. He worked with some of the best artists in the game: Richard Prince, Yayoi Kusama, and even Kanye West to name a few. We could write a book. After a 16-year-long career of unequivocal success, Marc Jacobs resigned from his role at Louis Vuitton to focus on his own brand. Throughout his whole era as creative director, Jacobs brought an exclusive mindset to LV that heightened the brand beyond the luggage industry and expanded the customer base, particularly with building relationships with fashion lovers and the younger generation. Marc Jacobs set the position for Louis Vuitton in the fashion industry and continues to do the same for his own brand. Today, Louis Vuitton is one of the most influential fashion houses in the world, with 460 stores across 50 countries. A monumental legacy, the Marc Jacobs Louis Vuitton era shaped luxury fashion as we know it today.
