>> Late Friday, Marc Jacobs announced
that in addition to canceling his much-anticipated fashion show
afterparty, he would also be cutting his show invite list by over
half. Instead of the usual 1,100 seated guests, there will be only
700; likewise, the usual 900 standing assignments are being cut down to
200 and will be largely reserved for employees, making the coveted Marc Jacobs invite more elusive than ever.
“This isn’t the time to spend the money to entertain the entire
world,” Robert Duffy, Marc’s right-hand man and president of Marc
Jacobs International, explained
of the downsizing. “Everybody thinks it costs the same money to
entertain 500 people as opposed to 2,000. It doesn’t. All those 2,000
people still need to be seated, they still need to check in, this one
needs this, that one needs that, and you know what? It’s very costly.”
Marc is showing at his usual venue, the 69th Regimental Armory, Duffy continued, because “it’s a great place to show, and it was booked a year ago. I’m not going to pay a cancellation fee.”
But no more Anna Wintour and Bee Shaffer, front row? »
But the Marc-Jacobs-show-as-circus may be a thing of the past — for
now, anyway. “It’s not going to be like it has been in the past, where
Marc Jacobs Inc. entertains everybody for the evening,” according to
Duffy. “I’m not saying it’s not going to go back to that, but right
now, during this economic environment, it would seem ostentatious for
us to continue doing the same thing. [The feeling is] just have the
people that need to be there be there and look at the clothes.”
In short, expect
a Marc show of a different kind: few celebrities — “there may be one or
two”; a much simpler set — “this is not the time for extravaganzas” and
no tagalongs — does that mean Bee Shaffer won’t be coming with Anna
Wintour? — “A lot of our editors would ask if their husbands could
come, their kids. It was entertainment. We got a lot of requests: ‘Can
I bring so-and-so?’ This time it’s no.”
