Vintage MJ in Paris

Another review of the Fall 2010 collection by Marc Jacobs called it nostalgic. Which immediately made me nostalgic for Marc's first Paris apartment that was also designed by Paul Fortune. Since I have no idea where my tear sheets for it have been filed, I was happy to find that Moodboard had scanned and posted the photos last year. It's also fun to see how Marc's own personal look and style has changed since they were published! Some people get better with age and Marc is definitely one of them! I joked that maybe he and his collection look so great this year because he's madly in love with his boyfriend. But more importantly the fashion world is madly in love with Marc! And I'm in love with his homes!

Photos by Fernando Bengoechea

MJ in Paris

Marc Jacobs is getting rave reviews for his collection show Monday night. Some said it was serene while others accused it of being safe but sometimes you just want to look pretty and nice and not over the top, kind of like Marc's Paris apartment. I'd be serene too if I lived in this fabulous space! It was shot for an old issue of W Magazine which you can see here but I love these quieter shots that I found on his designer Paul Fortune's website. Enjoy!

The Fashion Issue

I think my favorite month for magazines has to be September since they are all devoted to fashion. In the case of Elle Decor, we get to peek into the stylish homes of some of the top fashion designers and executives. The living room above belongs to Robert Duffy, the President of Marc Jacobs International who has been Marc's business partner since the beginning of the designer's career. You can think of then as the American version of Giancarlo Giammetti and Valentino.

I had a friend who used to work for Robert Duffy so it was fun for me to see into his Provincetown, Massachusetts home that I have heard so much about. It's a uniquely personal space that wavers from clean and spare, the influence of his architect Stephan Jaklitsch and designer Richard McGeehan, the same team behind the Marc Jacobs boutiques, to warm and collected. The library reminds me a little of his West Village home which is full of beautiful antiques. I think those who work in fashion have the most interesting homes that reflect their creative careers and they are also another example of how many different ways there are to dress your nest!

Photo by William Waldron courtesy of Elle Decor

Living with Art: Part Deux Update

I love it when people I've profiled email me or leave comments. They always add that missing element that makes the story so much more interesting. So I was very excited to receive the following comment regarding my profile of Marc Jacobs' Paris home that was featured in the November 2007 issue of W magazine. I hope you enjoy it too!

"I am the women in the sitting room photo. I'm Marc's personal chef. The photographer, Philip-Lorca DiCorcia decided he wanted me in one of the photos. Marc asked me if I wouldn't mind being in one of the photos with him while I was serving them all lunch on the terrace. It was an offer I couldn't refuse!! We just improvised...the make-up artist didn't even have 'women's make-up' because he thought he was only doing Marc. That's him, by the way(the make-up artist), under the covers, speaking of improvisation!!"

The Marc Jacobs story was a bit of a fantasy and not a regular home feature so it's even more fun to hear the behind the scenes shenanigans! I was also wondering who was under the covers and now the mystery has been solved!

Living with Art: Part Deux

Marc Jacobs is a testament to what kind of art collection you can amass in a short amount of time. You would never know it from his front row that he was intimidated by the art world and didn't even start collecting until five years ago. I have a friend who works for the designer and I can atest that not only has the collecting bug bit him hard but he really has become a true patron of the arts.

It began innocently enough, with a little oil painting by Karen Kilimnik which he saw in a Christie's catalog and bought for $31,000. "Within weeks he also acquired three Mike Kelly prints from Skarstedt gallery in New York, rationalizing the purchase because it was his birthday. Soon he was traveling to international art fairs, befriending dealers and artists, and in some instances asking his LVMH bosses for salary advances to cover paintings he couldn't really afford, such as Ed Ruscha's Birds, Pencils (1965), which he spotted at Art Basel."

The November 2007 Art Issue of W magazine takes a moody look inside his apartment in Paris that was designed by Paul Fortune. In the top photo, Jacobs sits in his library with Ed Ruscha's Heaven, 1986, and a Sixties Dominique table. While in the living room, Ed Ruscha's Peach, 1964, John Currin's The Go-See, 1999, hang near a Lalanne sheep sculpture.

Of course it's W magazine so there are the ubiquitous shirtless designer photos, a la Tom Ford and Dolce and Gabanna. Or perhaps, the newly svelte designer just wanted to show off his rock hard abs. Either way, he's sitting in the den on a leather Arne Jacobsen Egg chair next to a credenza on which sits Sean Landers's Mr. Rabbit, 2003.

Damien Hirst's Paracetamol, 2004-05, and Richard Prince's Island Nurse, 2002, dominate the upstairs landing.

One of my favorite contemporary artists is Elizabeth Peyton and Marc Jacobs has been a huge supporter of her work. Among his paintings by her in the sitting room is a portrait of Jacobs. He also commissioned her to paint Sophia Coppola for his fragrance advertising. John Currin's Bra Shop, 1997, is one of several portraits in the master bedroom. John and his wife, Rachel Feinstein, also an artist, have become very good friends with the designer and often sit in the front row of his fashion shows. She also happens to look a lot like the women in his paintings which was why there were introduced.

Above the bed in the downstairs guest room, hangs Richard Prince's Richard and Linda, 2005. Richard Prince also designed the multiple covers for W's Art Issue. You also have to wonder who that is under the covers. His new boyfriend perhaps? Below, Jacobs plays in the courtyard off the garden-level office with his two dogs, Alfred and Daisy, and two Lalanne frog chairs.

"Jacobs doesn't fancy himself a major art collector and is not gunning for some future wing at MoMA. He says he buys what he likes—work that tends toward the figurative, the graphic—and hangs it where he can see it."

In Paris, Jacobs enjoys spending time at home with his art, which is partly what inspired the W photo portfolio. The designer liked the idea of a series that captured his home as a sort of surreal dollhouse, offering a look into "the little compartments of people's lives." When he talks about his existence in Paris, which he used to fantasize about as a teenager, he compares it to a bizarre dream. And whether you like his art or not, I hope you can appreciate his passion for collecting.

Photos by Philip-Lorca diCorcia