THIS Louis Vuitton thing was scary," Marc Jacobs admitted at his talk for Central Saint Martins yesterday evening, recalling his appointment at the design house - where he was charged with the task of creating its first womenswear collection - in 1997.
"Suddenly you're on the Paris stage, with this huge name. I felt so paralysed by it. That first collection was a no-win situation. I thought, if I give them what they expect, they'll be disappointed because they wanted to be surprised. If I give them a surprise, they'll be disappointed because it wasn't what they were expecting."
Eleven years down the line, he is feeling significantly more confident about his role there.
"When I trust my own whims, and the whims of people I trust, I feel that has credibility," he explained. "Belief is embedded in everything you do - so it doesn't actually matter whether people like it. I guess what we do, as a team, is a daily, weekly, monthly re-evaluation of whims." |
