Marc Jacobs’ New York Fashion Week show is always one of the hottest tickets in town; but following the recent announcement that the NYC native is trading his typical Park Avenue Armory venue for the 12,000-square-foot Hammerstein Ballroom, anticipation is extra high this season. The two-tier ballroom turned banging concert hall seems to indicate Jacobs might be in a musical mood this season, a suspicion his just-released fall/winter 16 campaign video heightens. Shot by hip-hop’s most iconic director, Hype Williams, the visual is a three-minute-long music video packed with a diverse array of musical legends — from rap queen Missy Elliott to grunge princess Courtney Love.
The video brings to life Jacobs’ dark, hazy fall/winter 16 campaign, but shows its stars in a far sharper light. Models including Cara Delevingne, i-D Female Gaze Issue cover star Adwoa Aboah, Anna Cleveland, and Willy Morsch join the musical heavyweights and other all-around icons, like Sarandon and performance artist Kembra Pfahler. Williams incorporated similar neon graphics into his “All of the Lights” video for Kanye West.
“I’ve always thought his visual voice is incredible,” Jacobs said of Williams in a Billboard cover profile published this morning, in which the video premiered. “The clothes had a rhythm that reminded me of Limelight,” Williams said of the video’s vibe, referencing the beloved NYC nightlife spot. “The music we picked represents that era and Larry Levan, [a DJ who] was a genius at what he did; he shaped club culture.”
Despite the disco-flexing soundtrack, Williams says each of the stars chose different music to get in the mood while shooting: The Prodigy for St. Vincent’s Annie Clark — with whom Jacobs shares the Billboard cover — Justin Timberlake for Manson (seriously), and for Japanese artist Keiji Haino: silence.
Clark described the experience as “like an acid-trip Fellini film, 8½ or Satyricon.” “Genesis P-Orridge was on one side of me, Susan Sarandon on the other, and all these gorgeous, statuesque redheads milling round. It was lovely to be in the company of real artists and genuine, beautiful freaks,” she said.
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Text Emily Manning