Picture this: Marc Jacobs is home one night watching Hulu (it’s not all 10-person orgies and orange mocha frappuccinos in St Barths!) when he spies a contestant who is not only “tall” and “handsome” but who is also wearing a Marc Jacobs sweater. Jacobs then realizes that the man, Dan Donigan (aka Milk), also used to work at his stores, so he follows him on Instagram.
Flash forward a few months and Dan is now Jacobs’ newest spring/summer 16 campaign face. Jacobs published the image on his personal Instagram account last night, where it joins other teaser shots of transgender Matrix co-director Lana Wachowski, actress Sandra Bernhard, Jacobs’ “hero” Bette Midler, and models Kiki Willems and Veronika Vilim.
The campaign, shot by David Sims, is “a personal diary of people who have and continue to inspire me and open my mind to different ways of seeing and thinking,” Jacobs has said.
Alongside the photograph of Donigan (outfit: patched denim skirt, shaggy cardigan, heeled gold Victorian boots), Jacobs wrote “His unique, artistic drag sensibility reminded me so much of the amazing drag characters of my club days at The Pyramid, Copacabana and other New York haunts I used to frequent.” He also published a touching DM Donigan had sent him, thanking him for “contributing to [his] creative life” and confirming that both men are obsessed with Cher and glitter.
Jacobs has a stellar track record for ingenious casting decisions (see earlier cameos by Winona Ryder, Victoria Beckham, Beth Ditto and various cool children). But this season may be his best yet — and knowing the designer’s preference for large ensemble casts, there are probably more surprises to come.
Credits
Text Alice Newell-Hanson