The industry rejoiced today over the news that Riccardo Tisci has extended his contract at Givenchy, but there's no word yet on whether Marc Jacobs has signed on for another stint at Louis Vuitton.
Tisci will continue in his role as Givenchy's creative director for the next three years while the brand "shifts into an expansion mode" that hopes to capitalize on its current popularity. Tisci's wildly salable clothing — like the rottweiler t-shirt from Fall 2011 that became a hit with customers and celebrities alike — are doubtless a part of his staying power at the brand.
In early January, Jacobs mentioned at both the WWD CEO Summit and a talk with Fern Mallis at 92nd Street Y that he and his business partner Marc Duffy were heading to Paris to talk about their contracts with LVMH, which were last renewed at the beginning of 2011. "I'm not really sure," he said when WWD's executive editor Bridget Foley pressed him about specifics at the summit. "I know that we're discussing renegotiations."
There's not much evidence to suggest that Jacobs hasn't signed on the dotted line, although when he talked about his tenure at Louis Vuitton with Mallis, he said, "I've been there for 15 years — though I don't know if I'll be there for 15 more." Jacobs is the only creative director Louis Vuitton has ever had, and it's difficult to imagine what the brand would look like without his aesthetic and elaborate runway staging.
But creative directors — unlike Supreme Court justices or tenured university professors — don't get lifetime appointments. Jacobs was, for a long time, the front-runner for the creative director's chair at Dior, suggesting that he's prepared to leave Vuitton for the right opportunity. But after the Dior talks ended, Jacobs said of his job, "There is so much more left to do and building Louis Vuitton into a fashion company is something nobody else can say they really started."
