Interview

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Marc Jacobs is a fashion designer who's changing the meaning of that job. He does what an ordinary superdesigner does, i.e., create fashion-changing clothes for his own labels and for a great French house, but he also does so much more. His collaborations with Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, and Richard Prince have shaken things up in both the fashion and the art worlds. Not to mention advertising that looks like art or boutiques that feel like clubs. Andy Warhol used to talk about the best art being business art. And it would be hard to find someone who has done more to apply an artist's thinking to running a creative big business than Marc Jacobs.

GLENN O'BRIEN: You're going to be our Andy Warhol?

MARC JACOBS: I feel really weird about it to be honest, but I guess it's what I'm gonna do.

GO: You know why we thought of it? It's because you've kind of redefined things in the same way that he did.

MJ: Well, I didn't mean to. [both laugh]

GO: It's not your fault!

MJ: It's not my fault! I just have interests outside of the superficial world of fashion. [laughs]

GO: That's different for someone in your line of work. You know, mixing up art and fashion is something kind of new.

MJ: No. No, in fact, that's why I did it in the first place, because it was kind of old, and I thought it was missing. Do you want me to just break right into the whole-[laughing]

GO: Please.

MJ: I mean, I'm not shy when it comes to talking, so, unlike Andy, you won't get a lot of, "Um, do you think so? Really?" You won't get a lot of one-word answers.

GO: "Oh, gee!"

MJ: "Oh, gee!"

GO: "Oh, really?"