Marc Jacobs' shows are always discussion-starters. His critically adored fall '16 collection provided plenty of conversational fodder, but it was the not-so-subtle political statement at the close of the show that really had people talking.
Jacobs stepped out for his final bow wearing a T-shirt embellished with a portrait of Hillary Clinton in red and blue sequins. Anna Wintour, a known Hillary supporter, sported her own Jacobs-designed shirt with the candidate's likeness in the front row. Kendall Jenner, who walked in the show, shared a picture of herself wearing the same T-shirt on Twitter — her first political endorsement.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
The shirts are from the limited-edition Made for History collection being sold by Clinton's campaign, comprised of three different designs, each priced at $45, one apiece by Jacobs, Tory Burch, and Public School's Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne. (Alas, the sequined number Jacobs donned isn't part of the collection.)
There was another big name at the show last night, and this one was actually there in the flesh: Lady Gaga made an appearance on the catwalk. Though that was less of a surprise; she was spotted checking in at the models' table at the Park Avenue Armory shortly before show time, per WWD.
It wasn't Gaga's first runway rodeo, either. She made her Fashion Week debut at Thierry Mugler's fall '11 show in Paris. She also starred in Tom Ford's virtual dance party presentation for spring '16. It actually wasn't even the first Gaga-plus-Jacobs fashion moment of the week: He designed the bespoke Bowie-inspired gown she wore at the Grammys. (According to Vogue, that's when Gaga got the call to walk in the show.) Jacobs has mastered the art of the celeb runway appearance. Last season, he tapped The Gossip's Beth Ditto to walk.
Gaga moonlighting as a model basically dominated social media as soon as she stepped (clomped, really) onto the glossy, white lacquered runway in the collection's impossibly high lace-up creeper boots. (Gaga lamented to Vogue backstage that the shoes weren't taller.)
As for the clothing? There are so many exaggerated plays with proportion, mostly of the exceedingly oversized variety. The nearly cartoonishly voluminous looks, rendered in a very dark palette, involved artfully styled layers of knits, furs, feathers; heavy, richly embellished patterns, and full skirts that were positively piled on.
Giant pussy bows adorned many of the looks, lending a girlish, lighthearted counterbalance to the collection's dark drama. Jacobs was apparently referencing everything from Christina Ricci to Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice to "ghosts of New York," according to Vogue. There was so much going on: In most designers' hands, a cocktail involving (and not limited to) giant paillettes; polka dots; thick, textural knits; lace; floral prints; fluid silk, and leather could be an unfocused disaster. But it all somehow makes sense when Jacobs is at the helm.
Jacobs' gorgeously macabre collection was accented with a rather unexpected cameo, as well: a Canada Goose men's parka, which was (somehow) layered to the hilt in a look that involved an elaborately sequined ball skirt and plumes of black feathers protruding from the shoulder blades like wings.
Closing out NYFW every season is no small task, but Jacobs rarely, if ever, disappoints. That said, he truly put on a hell of a show last night, Gaga and Clinton (T-shirt) cameos and all.