Marc Jacobs returns with a new collection of gigantic hoods and snoods. And, surprisingly, there’s nothing ’70s about it

After a longer-than-one-season break, Marc Jacobs is back, showing—really, really late—autumn/winter 2021 in his native New York. Every time we thought we have seen the final anything for this year, then we wouldn’t be. Americans are naturally thrilled. Mr Jacobs’s collections are the only ones during New York Fashion Week, even now off-calendar, that, as one buyer told us, people actually see. Now that he’s showing at his own pace, fans and observers are even more curious. Will he stand out without his compatriots to compare to (remembering what Tom Ford showed in February now could be hard)? Will the looks in Europe filter down to his runway’s? Will he be the darling of the global press? Mr Jacobs has always known how to make the news, from desecrating the monogram of one luxury brand to starting fashion shows unreasonably late, he has done quite enough attention grabbing. Even his not showing last season was major news. His name is, in fact, rarely not, which makes this collection’s use of his moniker in bold, san-serif font and near-neon colours in place of a monogram a bit of a puzzler.

Perhaps Mr Jacobs does not want you to forget him. The name, therefore, must be masthead-large (and repeated in lines) to be noticeable, just as the clothes are crazily massive to be noted. Would the Marc Jacobs store (or all other stockists retailing his line, such as Bergdorf Goodman) be required to make even more capacious paper bags than usual? These are seriously oversized garments. The 101 ways with Sleeping Bags? In the case of the outers, they look large enough to fit two wearers. In fact, you actually see more clothes that the persons in them. We’re thinking of South Park’s Kenneth “Kenny” McCormick! Mr Jacobs chose to have the runway—in the New York Public Library, rather than his usual Park Avenue Armory—photos shot to see the side of the models. This could be better to highlight the chunky, vaguely ’60s silhouettes, but they give little to how the clothes would look front-facing. A view of the show is, therefore, necessary. The front, too, obscures the body in many instances, sometimes even faces. There could have been droids in those padded cocoons.

For the present, Mr Jacobs has left the ’70s, even if momentarily. He, too, has allowed the usual Yves Saint Laurent and Rei Kawakubo grips to weaken. Despite the outre shapes and the unwieldy proportions, there seems to be semblance of looking back—to the ’60, first, in what has been described as “space age-y”—those outerwear and their attendant hoods or padded balaclavas, vaguely recalling the futurism of André Courrèges, and secondly, the dresses with medallion-sized paillettes, vaguely bringing to mind Paco Rabanne. Mr Jacobs is a master plunderer of the past, positioning what he acquires at points just past the present. He has taken the vintage-y out of the space age-y by pumping up the volume of the clothes or elongating sleeves and skirts. Exaggeration of shape is not exactly new these days, but New York designers have not been enthralled by the practice. Mr Jacobs knows, therefore, that he can draw attention with the goofy enlargement, and re-establish himself as the American who can.

So the practicable is replaced by the outlandish, as he sends out massive jackets and coats (their size augmented by the skinniness of the pants or the outrageous girth of their legs); some hooded coats placed over heads like wearable tipis. Even Mr Jacobs’s prim jackets with rounded collars are upsized. The puffer jackets are even larger, some with hoods the size of African elephants ears, and one, with a hooded snood as tall and wide as a 20-litre water dispenser bucket. The puffers are so bulky, they come with straps so that you can carry them like backpacks. Whatever cannot be made excessively larger are lengthened: shoulders and sleeves, skirts and pants (so long that they require platform Mary Janes to prevent them from dragging). Veil-like hoods (in sweater knit) are so long, they look like chadors from afar. Paillettes destined for discotheques appear on skirts and dresses, and granny cardis, or are shaped into bib-sized neckwear. The collection also shows Mr Jacobs to be an avid colorist: brights are paired with more brights, sometimes with vintage-looking graphic patterns in the richer shades of ecclesiastical robes. All in all, lots to see, but how much of them will really arouse desire? Marc Jacobs is hopeful; he calls the collection Happiness.

Photos: Marc Jacobs