(PARIS) The prospect of Marc Jacobs parting ways with Louis Vuitton—and being succeeded by Nicolas Ghesquière—has been the talk of the season. Expect that talk to become action in a day’s time: sources very close to the show told The Daily today that it will indeed be Jacob’s last season at Louis Vuitton, and that Jacobs’ final collection will be comprised of a retrospective of his greatest hits at the French house. Also, we’ve been told to expect an even wilder than usual set design. As for a consistent production detail, models will again be descending down escalators before hitting the catwalk.
As for the impetus for Marc’s departure, it’s said to be his decision to leave Vuitton. Purportedly, a new round of investors have come on board at his eponymous label, which he plans to grow and which may go public.
Word has it that Ghesquière coming on board at Vuitton as Jacobs’ successor involved a key stipulation: the contract was inked under the condition that Vuitton will fund the launch of Ghesquière’s own eponymous label. In the meantime, the fashion world will have to wait until tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. Parisian time when Jacobs unveils his collection at the Louvre.
How do industry insiders feel about the speculation? At last night’s Roger Vivier exhibition unveiling, Robbie Myers didn’t comment, and Joe Zee kept it short, saying, “Well, I hope not, but what can you say? I just don’t know!” At the Chanel show this morning, Nina Garcia simply offered, “I hope not! I’m a big fan.” And T‘s Deborah Needleman felt like everyone should just leave the topic alone: “Oh, I’m not going near that! I feel like, poor Marc, poor everyone…” However, Elle’s fashion news director Anne Slowey doesn’t share the shocked sentiment. “Marc’s been [at Vuitton] for 15 years, he’s grown the business in an incredibly big way, and I’m sure he has plenty of ideas to keep himself occupied. Everyone’s saying that it will be Nicolas who will succeed him—and Vuitton hired his former accessories director [ex-Proenza Schouler accessories design director Darren Spaziani], who’s starting the day before the show, so we’ll see.” Stay tuned!
