Marc Jacobs' Inspirations

inside Marc Jacobs' studio

Marc Jacobs’ brain is feed on art, fashion, music and encounters.

Contemporary Art:

American contemporary artists

Elisabeth Peyton

who depict people's inner lives with a strange beauty

Steven Sprouse (graffiti bag)

Richard Prince

Rachel Feinstein

Jeff Koons

Jeffrey Deitch

Damien Hirst

Martin Kippenberger

video work of T.J. Wilcox

Edward Gorey

Japanese artists:

Takashi Murakami村上龍

Marc Jacobs did a collaboration project with Murakami for LV.

Yayoi Kasama草間彌生

Art Auctions:

After fashion show he regenerates his creative strength by watch contemporary art works, go to auctions and building up his art collection and prepare for his next fashion collection.

Encounters, Friends

Sofia Coppolar

Marc Jocob's best friend and muse, Sofia Coppola.
"She is young and sweet and beautiful," Marc Jacobs has said. "The epitome of this girl I fantasize of."
On set, Coppola sports a tomboy's jeans and designer sweaters; off, she wears girlish clothes that perfectly suit her gamine-like frame—baby-doll dresses, ballerina flats, and when the Academy calls, a Marc Jacobs column gown.

Movies

the gothic oeuvre of director Tim Burton

video work of T.J. Wilcox

(This Season)September 2005

the sullen Violet Parr from the Incredibles

Music

Fans

Bryan Boy—Marc designed a handbag name after his super fans called the BB bag.

www.bryanboy.com/

Grunge Look:

Miscellaneous:

He has a habit of asking everything in multiple colours. Thus, every pair of shorts and jackets appear at least in six different colours, but not all would be shown.

Inspired by macaroons, Yayoi Kasama’s polka dots, bottle tops or even plates; he and his design team were laying pastel leather dots on a bag model for hours to examining the design.

Quotes of Fashion Statements by Marc:

Jacobs isn't looking for deeper resonances to his new Edward Gorey vision. "It's just what turns me on," he says. "I am not waking up, reading The New York Times, and then putting that into my collections. I am not holding up a mirror to the world. I don't believe that's what fashion is about. It's about fantasy."

…. "Oh, I always think it's silly to talk about themes and inspirations," said Jacobs with engaging frankness. "The collection's just always about this youthful, angelic, idyllic army. It's comprised of a lot of things—big plaids, layered woolliness, gangly stockings—but really, it's all about how people will break it down and wear it in their own way."

References:

Bibliography for "Marc Jacobs: what's art? What's fashion? A business artist blurs the boundaries"

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_5_38/ai_n25470231

Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton

http://www.amazon.com/Marc-Jacobs-Louis-Vuitton-Full/dp/B00104Z8DO

Style.com

American Vogue September 2005

Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton (2007)

http://www.amazon.com/Marc-Jacobs-Louis-Vuitton-Full/dp/B00104Z8DO

Bridget Foley (2004). Marc Jacobs. New York: Absouline.

Possibility of Achromatic

Chinese may not be the master of red, but definitely the master of using achromatic colors.

In Chinese painting, achromatic colors are created by ink and water; and are graded into "five colors " (value) refer to the qualities of appearing-- dry, wet, heavy, light and charcoal (from light grey to black). White is the most important part in traditional Chinese painting, we don't use paint, but just leave a "blank" area on the paper.

These paintings are all by the famous Chinese artist LinFengMin 林風眠 (1900-1991), from them you can see how the atmosphere and space are created by achromatic only.

Conclusion

After analyzing the color scheme of all seasons of Marc by Marc Jacobs collections form Spring 2001 to Fall 2009, we find out some color theories and principles that Marc Jacobs might apply on the brand.

1. Achromatic Color/ Neutral Colors


Achromatic are black grey and white; and Neutrals are one of the easiest groups of colours, or non-colours to work with. They don't appear on the colour wheel and include Black, Grey, White and sometimes Brown and Beige. They all go together and can be layered and mixed and matched. No neutral colour will try to dominate over another.

2. Primary Color



3. Analogous Color in Red + Violet + Blue
These three colors together with black and white always appear in Marc by Marc collections, though the value, intensity and saturation are varied.


4. Split Complimentary Color in Red + Violet + Blue Yellow



5. Balance of Color

6. Harmony of Color --
Convenient for futher development in collections


7. Flicker -- Red and Blue





The red and blue combination often appears in Marc by Mar Jacobs collections.
Red and blue are colors that flicker when seen together. If both colours have the same value and saturation, they seem to flash when seen together. Flicker is an attention-getting color device that is often used in advertising, packaging, or signage, but it is very irritating and unsuitable in textile, fashion, or interior design unless a particularly irritating effect is desired.

8. Widely use of Accent Color


An accent color is a color used in quite small quantities to lift or to add punch to a colour scheme.
An accent colour should be in a complementary colour. It works best if it's a bright, vibrant colour. Marc by Marc Jacobs is a more commercial brand, and its customers might scare of strong color outfits, and accent colours are perfect for them -- simply add a splash of an accent colour on the zipper, trimmings or on the accessories.


We also discovered some interesting rules of using colors in Marc by Marc Jacobs:

1. A color scheme usually comes back and is reused in Marc by Marc Jacobs every four to five years. That is the spring 2007 color scheme is very similar to that of Spring 2002; and spring 2008 is similar to Spring 2003.

Spring 2007 Spring 2002


2. Each Season you with find a hint of what colors are coming next. There are about fifty to sixty outfits presented in each fashion show, and usually after thirty outfits, there is a significant change in hue, tone, saturation etc. of the outfits compare to the former thirty. Then, in the next season you might find the continuous usage of color scheme at the beginning of the fashion show.

Spring 2002 Fall 2006


So, we cannot find out what’s in Marc Jacobs’ mind, but we might predict the color scheme of the next Marc by Marc Jacobs’ collection, with some seemingly reliable evidence from the past seasons:

Step 1: Achromatic is a must.
Step 2: Red and blue too!
Step 3: Trace back the color scheme at four years ago( Remember the cycle of color scheme, huh? ).
Step 4: Check out the lower part of last season’s fashion show to seek implication of the coming collection’s color scheme.
Step 5: Organize the results from the above steps and fit into a color theory in design application, add a few accent colors as you like.

Eureka! Now, just wait and see if the steps really works.

Color scheme from Fall 2001 to Spring 2009

Marc by Marc Jacob

Collections: Fall 2001 to Spring 2009

Accessories: Fall 2001 to Spring 2009

Color Theory on Cats

Fat cat in monochromatic fur, lies on a carton box of apple, looks vacuous, except his belly.

Monochromatic color scheme gives a subtle look, but since it look smart and beautiful, people are willing to give it food and the most evil thing is there are a lot of delis around in the market.

It makes me realize that there seems no fat black cat, why? Is that black cat is not cute enough? Is that they look inauspicious? Is that black cats are genetically weight less?

Color theories on Fashion Store

The shelves and closets are between burgundy and brown which give vigor, elegance, richness, refinement, maturity and expensive feeling. Black is used as the background and color for floor to match with the dark color shelves. It is also because I use the contrast of color theory to emphasize the colorful products; bright and dull intensities accents unlikeness.

I use analogic and complementary color scheme (green, red, red-violet and orange) together with principle of novelty on the products to draw the attention of customers.

Pantone Colors for 06'

Pantone Colors for Fall 2006 Ready-to-Wear
including accessories and background colour.


The back groung colour is in pale blue-grey. It is the manipultion of emphasis of colour. Since the whole collection is in advancer qualities of hue, value and intensity and stands out in the background that is in receding qualities .








Pantone Colors for Spring 2006 Ready-to-Wear
including accessories and background colour.

The back groung colour is in white. It is the manipultion of contrast of colour which refers to advancing and receding hues counter each other, light and dark values show powerful opposition, and bright and dull intensities accent the unlikeliness.

Marc by Marc Jacobs 2009 Spring Ready-to-Wear

2009 S/S

• use tertiary color
• This collection can be divided into 2 parts. Part 1 uses low value, low intensity and low hue color.
• While part 2 uses warm color with high hue, high value and high intensity.
• The special arrangement of this fashion show gives a psychophysical effect of youth action and energetic.
• You can always found analogous colors scheme in most of the outfits.
• And some for the complementary colors scheme as well.

Marc by Marc Jacobs 2008 Ready-to-Wear

2008 F/W

• the main color used is black.
• Most of the colors used were dark and dull color with a few bright colors to add highlight effect on the collection.
• Complementary colors scheme (e.g.: Black with green, Black with yellow) can always be found. But most of them were with analogous color scheme.
• The colors used were with tertiary colors, with low hue, low intensity and low value.

2008 S/S

• Dark blue, grey and yellow are the domain color in this collection (Dark blue: 23 times, Grey: 11 times, Yellow: 7 times)
• Complementary color scheme always happened in individual outfits.
• Adjacent complementary happened too.
• Most of the colors used were with high chroma, high hue and high intensity.

Marc by Marc Jacobs 2007 Ready-to-Wear

2007 F/W

• there were brown and blue and neutral colors as its main colors for analogous matching
• adjacent colors were red, green, orange and violet used in accessories.
• The clothes mostly were in dark colors of tertiary colors in high chroma and low value.

2007 S/S

• mainly used analogous colors in dark red, green, brown, blue, and violet.
• some monochromatic or achromatic colors decorated by some accessories in complementary colors.
• in light tertiary colors but in high value and low chroma.
• familiarity color tone in its collection.

Marc by Marc Jacobs 2006 Ready-to-Wear

2006 F/W

• The whole collection is almost all navy and black, with a glimpse of red and occasionally white.
• used tints and shades of blue (monochromatic) and achromatic colors to create a subtle color scheme . Such combination is safe to use and could be quite boring.
• made use of the contrast of color principle to create point of interests in the collection; he put flashes of red and the whole collection became more vivid.
• Black and navy is suggested in the spring summer collection, at the later half of the runaway show.

2006 S/S

• The collection is mostly in pastel colors (tints) and with shots of black and navy
• a little bit of yellow and magenta at the print patterns, belt or waistband.
• This is an example of harmony of color with contrast of color to break the rule.