Marc Jacobs – The Man of the Moment
The famous designer Marc Jacobs was born in 1963 in New York and maintained a passion for fashion and design from a young age. He attended the prestigious High School of Art and Design and later the Parsons School of Design. Landing a role in the industry quickly, Jacobs’ first job was for the Weiser family chain of stores, Charivari and he was appointed to design and manufacture hand knitted jumpers for the store.
Marc Jacobs had proved himself to be a talented designer whilst at Parsons and upon leaving was contacted by Robert Duffy to design for the Ruben Thomas Inc Sketchbook label. The pair worked closely together, proving to be a dynamic team and together, they soon joined the label Perry Ellis whereby they were in charge of designing the women’s collections for the brand.
Marc Jacobs soon became a prominent figure on the fashion scene, especially following his rather rebellious ‘grunge’ collection for Perry Ellis which led to him being forced to leave the company in 1993. With Robert Duffy, Jacobs formed Jacobs Duffy Designs Inc. which still exists today. In 1986 Jacobs designed his first collection bearing the Marc Jacobs label. In 1994 he won The Women’s Designer of the Year Award and also produced his first full collection of menswear. By 1997, the Jacobs name had become renowned in the industry and the designer was working on a number ofhigh profile projects including working with Louis Vuitton whereby he started designing and making handbags. It was in this very same year that the initial Marc Jacobs store opened in New York.
Marc Jacobs is a designer who is al
so very much the face of his brand and is known for his vibrant personality and has even become quite the fixture within the New York City celebrity scene often seen out and about with the likes of Victoria Beckham who has also appeared in one of the most iconic Marc Jacobs advertising campaigns. The style of the Marc Jacobs collections take influence from fashion that existed from the 1940’s – 1980’s and he likes to inject his own unique twists on his designs to make them unique and original and despite people often suggesting that his style is sexy and flirty, the designer claims that “what I prefer is that even if someone feels hedonistic, they don’t look it. Curiosity about sex is much more interesting to me than domination. … My clothes are not hot. Never. Never.”
Recently this year, Jacobs hosted the ‘Model and Muse’ themed Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala in New York which featu
red supermodel Kate Moss. Marc Jacobs is a firm favourite in the industry and he just knows what people desire from a style perspective. He therefore creates highly fashionable products that always tend to be the ‘it’ accessory of the season. His bags especially, including the ‘Sasha’ shoulder bag and the Hobo are always seen adorned upon the arms of celebs including Lauren Conrad. The collection of Marc Jacobs sunglasses are certainly no exception and with their highly on trend bright colours, dramatic frames and exquisite designer style, these are definitely set to be a hot favourite on the fashion scene in 2010.
Celebrity Sunglasses at Cannes 2009!
If you’re celebrity savvy like us you will have been watching all the action at the recent 2009 Cannes Film Festival with interest. The stars, the dresses, the parties and the gossip kept us entertained for at least a week!
Angelina and Brad put on a show of togetherness in answer to reports of an imminent split. Penelope Cruz braved the festival whilst suffering with flu. Twilight’s Robert Pattinson’s non-stop partying was widely reported. Surprise at the pairing of Hero’s Hayden Panettiere and T4’s Steve Jones, seen canoodling onboard David Furnish’s yacht for the duration of the festival. Paris Hilton and her beau Doug Reinhart courting the paps as usual and Mariah Carey promoting her new film ‘Precious’. As well as 2 films depicting the life of Mademoiselle Chanel and an appearance from Chanel‘s Creative Director, the unflappable Karl Lagerfeld, made for an exciting festival.
The French Riviera was awash with Hollywood Glitterati and the sun shone brightly, so unsurprisingly we were treated to a role call of the latest, most fashionable designer sunglasses as modelled by the A-Listers.
Police sunglasses were a popular choice amongst the men, with director Quentin Tarantino, rapper Neyo and the newly reformed Spandau Ballet all sporting various cool looking styles. Brad Pitt took to the Red Carpet for his movie ‘Inglourious Basterds’ wearing top to toe Tom Ford including a sharp looking pair of Tom Ford style aviators. Both Robert Pattinson and Orlando Bloom flew the flag for Ray Ban, with the Twilight star rocking some Ray Ban Clubmasters and Bloom wearing nothing but swimming shorts and a pair of Ray Ban Wayfarers.
German born Diane Kruger is rarely seen without her Ray Ban Wayfarers and Cannes was no exception this year. Eva Longoria turned up the heat with a sizzling pair of large red Gina sunglasses by Louis Vuitton accompanied by her husband, basketball player Tony Parker. Red head Julianne Moore was pictured wearing a stunning pair of oversized black Gucci sunglasses and singer Mariah Carey chose a fabulous pair of Roberto Cavalli sunglasses for her photo call. Closing this year’s festival was Chanel muse and actress Anna Mouglalis with her film ‘Coco Chanel & Igor Strvinsky’ wearing… Chanel sunglasses – bien sur!
French Fancy
Interior design buffs will be more than familiar with the name Philippe Starck. One of the most influential contemporary designers of the noughties era, Parisian-born artist Starck has wowed consumers with everything from super-sleek hotel designs to artefacts and interiors, and now he’s made his moved into the foray of watch-wear.
The son of an aircraft designer, Starck set up his first company in 1968 producing inflatable objects and since then, he’s continued to be influenced by the world of fashion and popular culture. To date, he’s created mineral-water bottles for Glacier, kitchen appliances for Alessi, luggage for Louis Vuitton and Samsonite and computer gadgets for Microscoft, as well as his most recent collaboration with Fossil watches.
Believing that all his products should be simple, efficient and durable – with stunning design and practicality, Starck’s watches are as far away from your traditional watch as you can get. Undeniably modernistic and striking to the eye, they all boast high-design features, but without taking anything away from the practicality of the watch, making them robust in both wear and stylishness. Offering men’s, women’s and unisex styles, choose from electroplated bracelet designs, cross shaped rubber cuff designs with digital time-telling and the O-Ring Digi watch to name a few. The latter, rather space-age style uses a see-through ring-shaped display, rather like a polo-mint to show the time with hours shown as numbers and minutes as segments. If a more standard-display watch tickles your fancy, there’s plenty of those too, although they still have one-off design elements guaranteeing your watch will still become the talk of the town.