Marc Jacobs enjoyed a sartorial sendoff on Wednesday as he showcased his last ready-to-wear collection for Louis Vuitton.
His last collection was a parade of black designs, complete with a dark fountain and morbid carousel. The runway show traced Jacobs' 16-year run as the creative director of the French fashion house. French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton announced that he was stepping down as creative director after the show at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
During Jacobs tenure, he created the Louis Vuitton read-to-wear line, which increased the classic brand's global popularity.
LVMH did not say who will be replacing Jacobs.
Anna Wintour, the editor of U.S. Vogue, gave Jacobs, who also has a successful eponymous line, a standing ovation at end of the runway show.
"Fashion needs rock stars, and they don't come any starrier than Marc at Louis Vuitton," Wintour told The Associated Press in an email. "He has always understood that it is a house about travel, and every season he has taken us on incredible journeys with his spectacular shows - shows that made Vuitton a global phenomenon but always brought you back to the heart of Paris."
Wintour is not know for liberal compliments, so her praise was especially poignant. Jacobs dedicated the show partly to Wintour.
At the show, the models stomped down the runway in stark black feathered headdresses and an array of designs, 41 in total. The pieces included embroidered black tulle stockings, jackets with feathered shoulders, smoking jackets and even 1940s-style blue jeans. Some designs harkened to the turn of the century with Edwardian-style dresses with large sleeves and black corset detailing.
A central piece in the show was a hugh clock whose arm went back in time, symbolizing the show's retrospective theme of reviving Jacobs' varied designs from the past 16 years.
"We went back and used all the different bits of the sets of the past and made them black," Jacobs explained backstage.
Jacobs was able to expand the Vuitton brand from strictly an accessories brand to a brand that provides luxurious and sophisticated ready-to-wear. Jacobs' shows always attracted hordes of celebrities. Sofia Coppola, Princess Charlene of Monaco and Hollywood's Fanning sisters were among the attendees at Wednesday's show.
In the program notes, Jacobs wrote an emotional message to LVMH's CEO: "For... Bernard Arnault. All my love, always."
Glenda Bailey, the U.S. editor of Harper's Bazaar, said the show marked the "an end of an era."
"Watching the show was like seeing your life flash before your eyes, because there were so many memorable moments referenced," she told the AP, referring to the revived designs from past years.
"Marc brought such incredible energy to Louis Vuitton and should really be celebrated for bringing that house to life, and creating the vision that someone else will now take forward," Bailey added.
There have been rumors that designer Nicolas Ghesquiere, who left Balenciaga last November, could be Jacobs' replacement. The rumors have not been confirmed.
