St. Vincent, Marilyn Manson, Courtney Love, Genesis P-Orridge, and Missy Elliott are among the models featured in designer Marc Jacobs’ fall 2016 ad campaign. In the text that accompanies every photograph by David Sims, Jacobs writes a bit about each of them. As he says of St. Vincent: “There’s a certain maturity that’s inherent in Annie that transcends her age and while her music is a direct reflection of her intellectual curiosities and musical prowess, it was when I had the privilege of meeting Annie in person that I experienced her magnetism.” Check out all the photos below.
MANSON, Brains and Beauty Ironically, I met Marilyn Manson on Halloween in Los Angeles shortly after the release of his album, Antichrist Superstar in 1996. It was after meeting him that I started listening to his music- in large part because I was intrigued by his persona and curious about his perverse and incredible intellect. The Beautiful People and its accompanying music video with all its gorgeous grotesqueries is what sweet dreams are NOT made of… The incredibly powerful and frenetic pace of the video with the attenuated and elongated Manson pulled, disfigured and contorted by means of surgical devices, dental apparatuses and other contraptions is absolutely nightmare inducing and an outrageously captivating attraction of repulsion. For our Fall 2011 fashion show, there was no better song to send the girls marching down our boudoir comme insane-asylum runway than, The Beautiful People. It was the perfectly twisted companion for that collection which played at a volume that nearly shook the walls down. In direct contrast to the outward hideous beauty of Manson’s stage persona is his instinctive, inherent intelligence and understanding of what matters. These days more so than ever I am reminded of Manson’s interview in the documentary film, Bowling for Columbine and his response to a question asking what he would say to the kids and Columbine community in the wake of the tragedy that took place in 1999. His response was, “I wouldn’t say a single word to them. I would listen to what they have to say, and that’s what no one did.” Sometimes knowing when to listen is more important than being heard, and in one sentence Manson left a stronger impression on me than his music ever had previously. Marilyn Manson photographed by David Sims for our Fall 2016 ad campaign.
A photo posted by Marc Jacobs (@themarcjacobs) on Jun 19, 2016 at 5:21am PDT
COURTNEY, R(evolution) With my abundance of respect for Courtney Love’s musical contributions to grunge/rock culture and her status as this sort of, Grunge Goddess, it was her mesmerizing and extraordinarily moving portrayal of Althea in the film, The People vs Larry Flynt that simultaneously broke my heart and won my love. While I hadn’t yet met Courtney during my time as Creative Director at Perry Ellis, it was her then style that had a great influence on that now infamous “grunge collection” show in 1992. Courtney and I (and a then 2 or 3 year old Frances Bean) first met at dinner with Anna Sui in 1994 at Bar Six in NYC. I remember being quite taken by her deep, thorough knowledge of and voracious appetite for fashion and music. There has always been a genuine allure about Courtney that I continue to admire. The way she’d scream her lyrics from that gash of a red mouth to the hard rocking, wailing sounds of Hole. She was then and remains now, for me, the ultimate divine mess in a dress. Gone but no where near forgotten is the girl-woman Goddess of Grunge in her too small tattered dresses, the little girl barrette in her messy, scattered hair and beaten up brocade 1960’s evening shoes. It’s a long distance from the now iconic kinder-whore Courtney photographed by Juergen Teller for I-D magazine in 1994 to the movie star glamour of the powerfully aloof and infinitely present Courtney, photographed here by David Sims for our Fall ’16 campaign.
A photo posted by Marc Jacobs (@themarcjacobs) on Jun 19, 2016 at 11:09am PDT
In a continuing series of portraits for our Fall 2016 ad campaign, the individuals in these photographs represent a collective embodiment of love, honesty, integrity, courage, strength, curiosity and inspiration. Together, as one story, this collection is a reminder to question and challenge normal and to continue exploring and pushing boundaries. To quote Lana Wachowski, “I am suspicious of everything connected to that word [normal]. It is, to my thinking, a politically correct euphemism for obedience and conformity.” GENESIS P-ORRIDGE, Unconditional Love Through music, poetry and art, Genesis continues to explore, shape shift and define what it means to give love, be loved and live love. For me, Genesis is a sort of come-to-life definition of realness and authenticity and how being lost in an experience or new idea can result in growth and evolution. @pandrogyne Photographed by David Sims and styled by Katie Grand.
A photo posted by Marc Jacobs (@themarcjacobs) on Jun 13, 2016 at 11:44am PDT