Marc Jacobs Fall 2024 Ready To Wear

By Allison Kuester

Photo by Diliff from Wikipedia Commons, Link

Within 6 minutes, the New York Public Library was transformed into a Marilyn Monroe-style dollhouse by none other than Marc Jacobs. For his 2024 Fall Ready-to-Wear collection, Marc Jacobs continued his structured oversized looks and larger-than-life eyelashes from his Spring 2024 collection but added a Hollywood glamour and playful palette. Looking at the collection, one can’t help but feel a joyous nostalgia for the “golden” age. Contrasting the dark reality of today’s world, this season’s designs are bright and fun. In Jacobs’s words, the collection truly manifested “joy, period.” as quoted by Vogue.

For Marc Jacobs, the fall of 2024 was full of patterns, whimsical silhouettes, and Hollywood references. Although whisked away to Wonderland when looking at the pieces, the collection left me with questions pouring out of my much less whimsical mind. Was this show a statement for a tumultuous world or an escape from it? Is there a darker meaning behind “joy, period.” or perhaps is “joy, period” the deepest meaning a collection can have? Right now, our world is burning- both literally and figuratively. Not only is it 120 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but also, many countries have been plunged into political chaos, civil rights are under siege, and genocides are happening around the world. In the past couple of years, an average day has been filled with angry and tragic news, this collection was the exact opposite of that. Marc Jacobs brought us back to ground zero with his rebelliously joyful fall collection in the mists of an ever-shifting world.

 Jacobs has been long known for his open support of political movements like gay marriage, abortion rights, and many more. Even so, in a WWD interview in 2012, the designer also says that fashion and politics don’t always mix. This collection, however, seems to have an intrigue of politics- the politics of pure happiness. The rarity of joy in a time so dark could not be more underscored. With this collection, Jacobs left us, although briefly, in a feeling so uniquely raw and human that many of us remembered our own humanity. 

Overall, the collection was a breath of fresh air to an otherwise grim fall. It was a playful ode to both Marc Jacobs as a brand and historical silhouettes. Maybe it wasn’t  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Eat the Rich” dress, but it was a piece of rebellion in a time where joy is so rare. The short and sweet collections captured both our hearts and minds as we were transported to Marc Jacobs’s New York City dollhouse. 

Take a look at the full collection here: https://www.marcjacobs.com/us-en/about-marc/collections/fall-2024/