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\t\t\t\t\tMarc Jacobs Beauty<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy<\/p>\n
\n\tThe exclusive interview with Jacobs to discuss his hotly anticipated makeup launch came one day after it was revealed that LVMH Mo\u00ebt Hennessy Louis Vuitton had reached a definitive agreement to sell Marc Jacobs<\/a> to WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group for an estimated $925 million. (Jacobs and his former business partner Robert Duffy still owned 20 percent of the company, with LVMH owning the remainder.)<\/p>\n \n\tUnder the deal, Jacobs, who founded the company in 1984 with Duffy, will continue his role as creative director, ensuring continuity for the brand\u2019s vision, runway collections and shows. After the deal is closed, WHP will own the brand with G-III under a separate arrangement, while G-III will own the operating company.<\/p>\n \t\tFeeling \u201cVery Positive\u201d About the Sale\t<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI met with Yehuda [Shmidman, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of WHP] a few months back and I found him to be really nice,\u201d Jacobs said about the acquisition. \u201cI enjoyed meeting him and speaking to him, and he seemed to have a real genuine love and interest in this company. He had just been to Bookmarc and thought it was so great \u2014 the energy in the store,\u201d Jacobs continued, referring to his bookstore in the West Village. \u201cHe had gotten a bottle of Daisy, and saw the \u2018Marc by Sofia\u2019 documentary the night before. I felt very positive about that first meeting, and I still feel very positive. There are no guarantees of anything in life, but I do feel like my instincts are usually pretty good.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhether it\u2019s Marc Jacobs or Marc Jacobs by Marc Jacobs, or whatever version it is \u2014 we\u2019ve definitely proven that we can be and love to be a big name in that area of fashion, and we haven\u2019t really been able to be since those days of Marc by Marc,\u201d he continued. \u201cAgain, it\u2019s a new world, and it\u2019s a new day, and it doesn\u2019t have to go back in history to go forward, but I feel like they know a lot about that, and I don\u2019t, so maybe being with them will give our business the opportunity to grow in places that we know we can be successful in, and they obviously feel we can be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn the future of his runway collections, he said: \u201cThere was a discussion of it in [which] Yehuda said, \u2018We love that, and we believe in that part of the business.\u2019 So part of my feeling so secure about this whole thing is that\u00a0without me having to convince him, he felt sure that he very much wanted to maintain that, and that he wanted me to continue on as creative director.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAsked if the new ownership could impact the beauty licensing deal, a representative for Coty responded: \u201cNo, change in ownership does not affect Coty\u2019s long-term licensing agreement with Marc Jacobs. In addition, Coty already has a strong partnership with WHP Global on Vera Wang.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWHP\u2019s timing couldn\u2019t be better. Marc Jacobs Beauty will debut on marcjacobs.com on May 28, followed by a Sephora<\/a> app exclusive on May 31 and availability on sephora<\/a>.com in the U.S. and Canada and selfridges<\/a>.com beginning June 1. The brand will then roll out to Sephora stores across the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia starting Sept. 1.<\/p>\n \n\tThe new makeup collection will launch with an edit of seven essentials across eyes, complexion and lips. This includes Drawn This Way Eyeliner, offered in 21 shades (the eyeliners in Jacobs\u2019s previous brand were a cult favorite) and featuring star-charm caps; Born Star Eyeshadow, a cream-to-powder formula housed in a distinctive star-shaped compact and available in 14 shades; Flashes Mascara; Joystick Blush Stick; Legally Bronze Bronzer; Money Shot Highlighter Gel, and Heart On Lipstick. In the U.S., prices will range from $26 to $42.<\/p>\n \n\tJacobs is excited to be back in the makeup category. \u201cI like working on things where there\u2019s a process, and through that process you figure out the story you want to tell, and I love makeup as an accessory,\u201d he said. \u201cI love going down the rabbit hole of watching tutorials and seeing all these different makeup artists and people who are makeup fanatics, and how they use makeup and express themselves through it. I enjoy being a part of a creative process that I can understand, and there\u2019s a parallel to fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAs for the timing of the brand\u2019s introduction, he said: \u201cIt seemed like a very smart partnership, because [Coty] had the fragrances. For everybody here, like our CEO Eric [Marechalle], it felt like a very logical company to do it with.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFrom Coty\u2019s perspective, this is something consumers have been asking for. Jean Holtzmann, Coty\u2019s chief brands officer, prestige, told WWD,\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s really the most requested comeback in beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe new brand will be linked to Jacobs\u2019 bestselling fragrance franchise in that there is a daisy emblem on complexion packaging, while hearts will represent lips, and stars for eye products. As for its comparison to Jacobs\u2019 first iteration, the designer is definitely not looking back.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe idea was not to start where the first one ended, but really to start with a completely different proposal,\u201d Holtzmann said. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely not a relaunch. But in the story of Marc Jacobs Beauty, we also have to take into consideration that there were people who were really extremely loyal to some of the products.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAsked to describe Marc Jacobs Beauty in 2026, Holtzmann answered: \u201cA maximalist manifesto in the minimalism era. This idea of being bold and being joyful.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tExpress Yourself\t<\/p>\n \n\tJacobs said it represents his \u201congoing love of fashion and belief that expressing oneself is just the greatest freedom, and we should never ever lose sight or praise for being one\u2019s authentic self and being true to themselves and showing themselves the way they see themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tMarc Jacobs Beauty<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy<\/p>\n \n\tHe\u2019s never heard of the clean girl aesthetic, but after it was explained to him, he responded: \u201cWell, I suppose there\u2019s trends always, and I\u2019m much more about five pairs of lashes than I am no lashes.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn who his customer is in 2026, Jacobs said: \u201cI have no idea. Whether you ask me about clothes or makeup, I\u2019ll give you the same answer: I\u2019ve never understood those questions about demographics. I don\u2019t think if you ask the people over at Chanel if they feel like they\u2019re dressing a 63-year-old guy, that\u2019s what their intention was, but I\u2019m a good customer there.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI know more mature people who are very experimental with makeup, and I know younger people who are very conservative,\u201d Jacobs continued, \u201cso I\u2019m always reluctant to say it\u2019s for this age group or it\u2019s for that person, because I\u2019d like to believe that we\u2019ve all moved past that discussion, and it\u2019s not about boys or girls or men or women or them. It\u2019s just makeup, it has no gender, it has no age. It\u2019s makeup. Enjoy it if you want. Period.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe line was teased at the Met Gala earlier this month when \u201cI Love LA\u201d creator Rachel Sennott paired Marc Jacobs Beauty products with her Marc Jacobs-designed \u201980s-inspired geometric gown.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRachel is just so cool and clever and smart and beautiful, and so it was exciting,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cI do remember back in the day with Kendo, where [Lady] Gaga wore something, or somebody wore something, and then all of a sudden it blew up, because so and so wore that particular shade of nude on the red carpet. And it\u2019s one of the things I like most about beauty and fragrance is that it is much more accessible than a giant leg of mutton leather Liberty print jacket.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tMarc Jacobs and Rachel Sennott at the 2026 Met Gala.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichael Buckner\/Penske Media<\/p>\n \n\tSince Marc Jacobs Beauty was last in the market, a lot has changed. For starters, the aisles of Sephora are now filled with a plethora of makeup artist-founded brands like Makeup by Mario, Patrick Ta, Charlotte Tilbury and many more. But Jacobs is confident that his point of view as a designer will differentiate him from the pack.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe\u2019re unique in the fact that we are a fashion house, and a U.S. fashion house. I\u2019m not a celebrity makeup brand, I\u2019m not a pop star, I\u2019m not married to a pop star, although he might disagree with you,\u201d he quipped about his husband, Char Defrancesco. \u201cI mean, he dresses like one, but no. Who I am, and what we do is unique.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAnother big change is the rise of TikTok. While his brand is active on the app, Jacobs just launched his own account on Friday evening, dropping a video of him dancing with Romy Mars, singer and daughter of Sofia Coppola, with the caption: @marc jacobs welcome to this app.<\/p>\n \t\tThe Sephora Strategy\t<\/p>\n \n\tAt Sephora, Marc Jacobs Beauty will return with a two-bay gondola and while Marc Jacobs fragrances will remain in the fragrance area, one will be featured on the makeup gondola.<\/p>\n \n\tPriya Venkatesh, global chief merchandising officer for Sephora, said: \u201cIt\u2019s been one of our most anticipated relaunches not just at Sephora, but in all of prestige beauty, and it\u2019s really like a full-circle moment, because this was originally born at Sephora via Kendo in 2013 and back then it really made a splash in the way it showed up. It created iconic products with a cult following, and we expect the same level of obsession and fandom and cult following and cultural relevance. I know it sounds, wow, that\u2019s a tall order, and I actually feel good about this tall order being met right now.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tShe is confident that it has the recipe for success this time around. \u201cThere were business challenges then, but customer demand was pretty strong, so it didn\u2019t have too much to do with customer demand,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt was the way things were structured, so we think this is a strong brand with a high customer appeal. The products and packaging are so fun and joyful with the touch of luxury, and this is something so unique to Marc. We feel confident of the innovation and quality of the products as well, that this will succeed, and this time we\u2019re also going with a global launch, so the business plans of it is quite sound. There has been quite a bit of pent-up demand for this brand. Between all these changes, it will definitely be a win second time around.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tFor Coty, which has been struggling of late, the hope is to capitalize on the strength of the Daisy franchise as its 20th anniversary fast approaches. The company\u2019s stock price is hovering around $2, down from $17.50 when it went public in 2013 and it is about to soon lose its Gucci license, one of its crown jewels, to L\u2019Or\u00e9al.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tMarc Jacobs Daisy<\/p>\n \n\tThe Marc Jacobs Beauty license was brokered under former CEO Sue Nabi, and will now be overseen by interim CEO Markus Strobel.<\/p>\n \n\tHoltzmann said: \u201cBetween fiscal year 2019 and 2025 the [Marc Jacobs] business grew by almost 50 percent so it\u2019s obviously a strategic brand. Going into beauty is just a new chapter of our relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn the makeup market, which has been underperforming other categories, Holtzmann stressed it was very cyclical. \u201cWe are not necessarily in a bad cycle, but we are in the market of innovation, of offer. If you want the market to grow, you have to come with something [that] is different, and you have to be bold, and you have to make a bet. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to do\u2026.Marc Jacobs lends itself perfectly to this. He has been a code breaker for as long as he has been in the business and his career is a testimony to breaking codes, to being bold, to doing things that people did not expect.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn whether he would expand into other categories like skin care, Jacobs said: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say no to anything. We started in the last round of beauty going into skin care, and I was fine to work on it, and I was open-minded to the possibility of it. My instinct, my gut about it was skin care is a whole other world, and I just feel if you\u2019re really legit into skin care, it needs to be from somebody who\u2019s really doing the work in the science field. As somebody who was into makeup, I would care about my skin care, but I wouldn\u2019t necessarily go to the same person for those two things.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tMarc Jacobs<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Yem\/WWD<\/p>\n \n\tAs for his wider brand expanding into different categories under new ownership, he said: \u201cI don\u2019t know. I can always entertain the idea of something new or different. I might have opinions as to why it doesn\u2019t make sense for us or me, but sometimes I just have to remind myself to keep an open mind, because it\u2019s the only way anything happens. It\u2019s like to give it a chance, and maybe through something that I don\u2019t immediately see, working through it might end up being something that I\u2019m surprised by and delighted with in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tOn his involvement in all the various categories of the business, he is very involved in fragrance, beauty and the runway collection. The rest can vary: \u201cSometimes I\u2019m asked to be more involved in commercial bags, sometimes less, sometimes it goes in and out, and there have definitely been periods where I\u2019ve been more involved. But sometimes my involvement isn\u2019t really that beneficial, because I\u2019m very stubborn and hardheaded, and sometimes it slows down the process, and me being on a calendar, a commercial calendar, is tricky. I feel like I\u2019m here when needed, and I\u2019m going to get on with what I know how to do, and I\u2019m more than happy to weigh in on anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAll in all, he appears to be taking the WHP\/G-III acquisition in his stride. \u201cI don\u2019t know what it actually will be. I\u2019m just open to what it will be, or what it can be. And when you say, what are your hopes, it\u2019s like, well, I hope for the best, that\u2019s all you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI think it could be a better blue, but I really should go,\u201d Marc Jacobs said into his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12718],"tags":[1576,12778,4955,12705,12779,12733],"class_list":["post-17052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sephora","tag-beauty","tag-coty-inc","tag-lvmh","tag-marc-jacobs","tag-selfridges","tag-sephora"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n