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Marc Jacobs is not a stickler for punctuality. Last season, he exhausted the patience of top fashion editors with a 90-minute delay, causing some of them to leave before it even started. For his spring 2008 show, Jacobs kept guests waiting a record two hours. But alas, there's always an opportunity to fall back in love him each season — through the good collections and the bad ones, flaws and all.
For his fall 2019 event, which was scheduled to start at 6:00pm, nearly every seat was filled by 5:40pm. It was as if editors, who'd just endured a week's worth of tardy fashion shows, were testing Jacobs — to see if he'd have the guts to do it again or if he'd hit reset and begin within the 15-minute grace period given to most designers during Fashion Month. At 6:00pm, the Park Avenue Armory went black and the music, by Bryce Dessner of the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (situated off to the side under UFO-style spotlight), promptly began.
First up: Ugbad Abdi, in a leopard print poncho that practically swallowed the Somalian model (as it will anyone who isn't 5'11" sans heels). Five more coats just like it followed, not unlike his last fall offering, only this time in tame hues of slate grey and oxblood. But it quickly progressed: a wintergreen dress that sparkled under the harsh spotlighting, an oversized pink floral number in endless ruffles, and a lemon ballgown broke up the otherwise muted (expected) color palette.
What stole the show, however — and will undoubtedly show up on the remaining red carpets this season (we're looking at you, Gaga) — were the looks made up entirely of feathers. Shown on model veterans Lindsey Wixon and Christy Turlington plus newcomer Naomi Chin Wing. They tempered Jacobs's signature grunge motifs, like a black and white striped, floor-length sweater dress, and the beanies with plumes growing out of them that were paired with nearly every ensemble. Plumes aren't a new concept, especially for the theatrical Jacobs, but they added a sense of nobility to dresses that otherwise would just be called "pretty".
And that's why, come rain or shine, Jacobs draws a crowd that would have waited two hours just to see him. Click through the slideshow ahead to see why the best part about Marc Jacobs's fall 2019 collection wasn't its uncharacteristic promptness.
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