Despite being notoriously late to begin many of his runway shows—a habit that’s been much bemoaned by fashion journalists—Marc Jacobs has perfect timing. At the American designer’s namesake brand, he recently made the bold and apt move to ignore the chronology of seasons completely, focusing instead on fashion as artistic expression. “We’re just kind of making things we want to make, and then we’ll show them,” he says over Zoom from his office in New York City, wearing his signature strand of pearls. “We don’t know how many we’ll make, and we don’t know yet what they’ll look like.” It’s an extreme move in a billion-dollar industry that’s driven by commercial calendars but not a surprising one from the designer who put artist collaborations on the map when he paired Louis Vuitton with American artist Stephen Sprouse in 2001. 

That intuitive career outlook is one that Jacobs applies to his personal life as well. “I take my time in the morning—even if I’m in a rush—to do what I need to do to feel good about myself,” he says. “Fragrance and all those things and what I’m wearing are really important to me because I do think that that time I give myself and that glamour help me feel alive and awake and open to whatever’s going to happen that day, you know?”

Being open to the day is an idealistic mood that’s embodied by Perfect, the Marc Jacobs fragrance that was released in 2020. “Perfect” is also a word Jacobs has tattooed on his wrist, a reminder that perfectionism is not a model that one needs to work to achieve; rather, it’s a trust that you’re always exactly who you need to be. “It’s much more based on the idea that this kind of higher power, or whatever one chooses to call it, has made everything perfect,” explains Jacobs. “It’s like everything happens for a reason and our own journeys are perfect because that’s what they’re meant to be.”

This past January, the Perfect journey continued with a new bluish-green-hued iteration that brings a crisp fruitiness to the original’s warm floral through notes of pink peppercorn and white daffodil. The spirited flacon features the same charms as the first bottle—including a domino, a banana, a shoe and a bow—which Jacobs says have no specific significance, even if the selection isn’t completely random. “Off the top of my head, I’d say, ‘No, no, no, they don’t have any meaning; I just pulled them out randomly.’ But I also believe that nothing is random.”

And nothing is actually random in the Marc Jacobs universe. Perfect’s toylike cap is a nod to Daisy, the brand’s wildly successful debut fragrance, which was introduced in 2007. Topped with whimsical rubber flowers, it defined a moment with dreamy ads that went on to serve as the blueprint for today’s cottagecore aesthetic. The aughts were indeed a prolific time for Jacobs. As creative director for Louis Vuitton from 1997 to 2014, he helped transform the luggage brand into one of the most valuable fashion houses in the world. In 2009, he co-hosted the Met Gala with Kate Moss, one of his many fabulous friends. In 2010, he was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People. In its heyday, Marc Jacobs and the accompanying Marc by Marc Jacobs line operated hundreds of stores, including a beloved mini-empire on Bleecker Street in New York’s West Village.

When I ask him how it feels to see the zeitgeist that he had such a strong hand in shaping now being expanded on by so many fashion designers and creatives, he points to the subjective nature of inspiration. “You look at what they’re doing and you think ‘I don’t see the connection,’ but it’s clearly what they saw or felt and how it inspired them,” he says.

Having recently turned 60, Jacobs is being faced with a new perspective: that time inevitably marches on. “I’ve seen a lot, I’ve done a lot and I’m still doing a lot,” he says. “So, it’s very peculiar and weird that I’ve become that person that I thought [someone of ] my generation would never be. I thought we were going to be a generation that’s different, that things would never change. But I’ve come to realize that, nope, just like every other generation before, we had this period, and now it’s being repeated by a younger generation that has a whole different take on it. It’s a strange, strange thing.” And it’s just the next chapter of Jacobs’ perfect journey. 

Scent Saga

A perfect journey

2007 - Daisy Eau De Toilette Spray

Marc Jacobs launches the first iteration of Daisy, an upbeat blend of joie de vivre, freedom and eternal youth bottled to perfection in a now mythic flask adorned with opulent daisies. Every year since, to our collective delight, limited editions of this woody floral—including Daisy Kiss, Daisy Dream, Daisy Love and Daisy Sunshine—have offered themselves up. Every reprise builds on the white violet, jasmine, berry and sandalwood notes of Daisy’s original olfactory score but has its own signature variation.

 

Price: $114 (50 mL)

 

SHOP
A perfect journey

2020 - Perfect Eau De Parfum Spray

In an aromatic ode to love, authenticity and individuality, Perfect hits perfume shelves for the very first time in eau de parfum form. Dreamed into being by the über-savvy nose of Domitille Michalon-Bertier, the blush-pink spray leans into rhubarb and daffodil notes sitting atop a deeply fragrant foundation of almond milk, cedar and cashmere.

 

Price: $138 (50 mL) 

SHOP
A perfect journey

2022 - Perfect Eau De Toilette Spray

Perfect’s eau de toilette arrives on the scene. It honours that innate burning desire to be 100 percent true to oneself and is inspired by Marc Jacobs’ own personal mantra: “I am perfect as I am.” Wafting off its soft-green waters are notes of the original fragrance amplified by just a skosh of pink peppercorn, white daffodil and polygonum, making for a sillage that’s as fresh as it is elegant.

 

Price: $124 (50 mL)

SHOP