If ever there was a designer
who is an early bloomer it is Marc Jacobs. A native New Yorker, he went
to the High School of Art and Design (1981) and then Parson's. While
he was still a student, he received several awards, including Design
Student of the Year. And before graduation, he sold his first knitwear
collection! That same year, 1984, he started a business partnership
with Robert Duffy (Jacobs Duffy Designs) which is still intact today.
Although Marc Jacobs has been
very popular in New York, he became a worldwide name to fashionistas
in 1997 when both Marc Jacobs joined Louis Vuitton as Artistic Director.
(Robert Duffy was hired as Studio Director at the same time.) That's
13 years since Jacobs Duffy Designs was created And what a glorious
13 years it was!
In 1986, the Marc Jacobs label
was launched. In 1987, Jacobs was awarded the CFDA Perry Ellis Award
for New Talent. In 1989, both Jacobs and Duffy joined Perry Ellis. In
1992, Marc Jacobs received another award - CFDA Women's Designer of
the Year. Jacobs would receive two more awards before the start of the
new millennium - VH1 Women's Designer of the Year Award, and the CFDA
Accessory Designer of the Year.
