Marc Jacobs has great taste. Even if his eponymous clothing lines weren't proof, his personal Instagram account is a testament to that, littered with images of the designer stylishly swaddled in daring ensembles from all the well-to-do labels of the day.
Hence why Jacobs' collaboration with Japanese brand Doublet makes so much sense. You don't bring LVMH Prize winning designer Masayuki Ino in for anything unless you really care about creative clothing.
And Ino brought his A-game, delivering an assortment of cleverly weird accessories and clothes for the collaborative collection landing exclusively at Dover Street Market Ginza, Hankyu Omeda, and Japanese Marc Jacobs stores on November 16.
There are new iterations of Jacobs' signature Snapshot purse and omnipresent Tote Bag, all made party-ready by supple leather, flashy sequins, or metallic silver "hair," the latter a Doublet signature since Ino's early days.
Nice timing, given that Jacobs himself just redesigned a famous handbag.
The Doublet twist is that the bags are fastened with custom straps upcycled from old the seats of scrapped cars, handsewn with balloon-inspired letters to taste.
Clearly, the theme is fun and the attitude is a night out, and the accompanying apparel is all you need to dress to impress.
Ino's ingenious attention to detail is again epitomized by a clever hybridization of ideas: Jacobs' signature "THE TOTE BAG" text print is repurposed to "THE STRAP," a nod to the bags' new accoutrement, rendered oversized across giant T-shirts and sweaters, a silhouette familiar to anyone who's followed Doublet for a spell.
The lettering spills across the neck, à la Margiela's signature AIDS charity design and clips have been fastened to the sleeves of each garment that lock in both the bag and the wearer, as if to riff on restrictive bondage pants.
Any Marc Jacobs bag can be clipped in to fit and the result is that the wearer becomes "The Strap," so to speak, further extrapolating the collection's theme.
This is the kind of retro chic quirk you may expect from Heaven, Jacobs' '90s-inspired sub-label, but it makes just as much sense bearing Jacobs' name.
What can I say? The guy knows a good time and he picked the perfect designer to bring the party to life.
