Robert Duffy

Apparently even big designers have trouble getting their stuff through customs. Thanks to delivery delays, Marc Jacobs has had to reschedule its show from Monday, Feb. 11 to Thursday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. "We're missing bags, shoes, and two fabrics," brand President Robert Duffy told WWD.

And it's not just the mainline show that's been affected; the Marc by Marc Jacobs showtime has been changed as well. That show will now take place at the Lincoln Center tents on Monday at 8 p.m. — the Collection's original spot on the schedule — because the set for the Marc Jacobs show is already being built at the Lexington Armory.

"Marc and I are extremely sorry for this inconvenience. We just want to have the best show possible and show all the product that our design team has been working on so hard for the last six months. We completely understand if people have to get on a plane to go to London," Duffy explained. "We're not expecting people to change those plans or other plans just for us. We are live-streaming the show. Still, we recognize the significant inconvenience and are very sorry about the situation."

Later the brand tweeted, "Sorry everyone, we just want to make it right," before tweeting a formal apology note.

Marc Jacobs has had a very busy week: he presented Germany's Design For Tomorrow Award — which honors talented student designers — in Berlin and also took time to reflect on the worldwide presence of his brands in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Read on for his thoughts on Louis Vuitton, working for Bernard Arnault, and more.

On the difference between Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton: "For me, sexy is not about a tiny waist or a heaving bosom. I suppose Louis Vuitton is more overt as a brand than my collections for my own brand, Marc Jacobs. But when I say Marc Jacobs is not about sex I mean that from a fashion perspective, it's not based on vulgarity."

On working for Arnault: "I've said before that working for Mr. Arnault is like working for the farmer in the movie Babe. I mean, he's never going to jump up and down with exuberance, and the most he can say has often been the equivalent of 'That'll do pig.' But now he does praise me, which is great."

On his aesthetic: "Sometimes I think I'm very old-fashioned in my approach. Where fashion is concerned, I like to tell a story. I don't like anything to be obvious and I think there should always be an element of surprise about the way one dresses."

On moving into China: "When we built the train for my last show, I said to [LVMH CEO Bernard] Arnault, 'If we are going to take anything to China, then this is it.'"
Photo: Marc Jacobs at his Fall 2012 runway show for Louis Vuitton.

>> Last month, Marc Jacobs was said to be frontrunner for the currently-vacant Christian Dior creative directorship. That still seems to be the case, according to WWD sources, but there have been a few sticking points.

One such hitch in the talks? It's believed that Jacobs and his long-time business partner Robert Duffy are seeking a substantial increase on their current salary and benefit packages from LVMH, which already place them among the highest-paid designers and fashion executives in the world.

Dior is a more demanding job than Jacobs's current position at Louis Vuitton, with two couture collections in addition to two ready-to-wear shows and pre-collections. And Jacobs would be required to spend more time in Paris working with the atelier, given the intense craftsmanship involved with forming a couture collection.

If Jacobs does make the move to Dior, Phoebe Philo has been reported to be first in line to succeed him at Louis Vuitton. But according to WWD's sources, as of last week, she had yet to commit to the project or enter negotiations.

>> Louis Vuitton is mounting a retrospective of Marc Jacobs's designs, to be unveiled during Milan Fashion Week; Robert Duffy suggests in a recent interview that Jacobs is ready to take on a couture line; and now, Jacobs has pushed back his New York Fashion Week show date — all fueling speculation that he's busy focusing on saying goodbye to Vuitton and doing a deal with Dior.

But, whatever happens, Jacobs won't be saying goodbye to one person — his business partner of 28 years, Robert Duffy. In a new profile exploring their partnership, Jacobs says of opportunities over the years: "Wherever we were, it would seem to the owner that one of us was the more valuable of the pair. But we always stood by each other ... it's not about what I do and what Robert does. The two of us together are Marc Jacobs. The two of us together are Vuitton. I don't think without him or without me we could achieve all that we've achieved."

More highlights from the profile, below.

Duffy on working with Jacobs for 28 years: "Marc honestly hasn't changed that much. He is very fragile and childlike. But when he's pushed against a wall and he really believes in something, he'll come back fighting. I think it's something he's learned from me. I guess that's how I've seen him change. He's more confident about what he has the right to say. He's definitely learned his craft and become an amazing technician. He could do a couture line. Of course, once he got sober, the natural thing to do was to get healthier. I don't know if you've ever known a heroin addict. He would eat cake, a whole wedding cake from a pastry shop. I would be like, 'You're the only fat heroin addict I know.'"

Duffy on what Jacobs would be without him: "I think if we weren't together, Marc would be a designer of renown, but he probably would have stayed small. He would never embrace social media. He wouldn't have done Marc by Marc. When I wanted to open Marc by Marc, he said, 'You think I want to design another line? You've got me working at Louis Vuitton, you've got me working here. You want to do it? It's yours. I'll come in and help when I need to.' But I have to be profitable, especially in the partnership with LVMH. I have to fund his collection line and the fashion shows."

Duffy on Jacobs's last-minute decisions: "Marc is famous for deciding things two weeks before the show, like, 'Oh my God, I want Stephen Jones to make polka-dot hats.' He expects the impossible from every single person. He expects everybody to just get with the program and get it done."

Jacobs on not always seeing eye-to-eye: "Sometimes we disagree on creative situations. He'll look at me like I'm out of my mind, like when I wanted to play 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' for last fall's show. He said, 'You're not really going to use that?' And then he sort of said, 'All right.' He's never stopped me from doing something. Sometimes we see each other constantly and sometimes there are weeks or maybe even a month where we don't speak. We don't micromanage each other."

>> Marc Jacobs has rescheduled his collection show from Monday evening, Sept. 12, to Thursday, Sept. 15 at 8:30 pm, according to Robert Duffy. WWD reports that the switch was made to "allow Jacobs and his staff to make up for time lost this past weekend when the entire design and sample room staffs were scheduled to work before Hurricane Irene intervened." The move — which places Jacobs in the upcoming New York Fashion Week's closing spot — could complicate traveling for those headed to London Fashion Week, which begins the following morning on Sept. 16. The Marc by Marc Jacobs show, meanwhile, has been bumped up from Tuesday afternoon to the Monday evening slot. [WWD]

>> A couple of weeks after rumors popped up suggesting that Marc Jacobs was at the top of the pack to take over as Dior's new designer, reports corroborate that the rumors just might be true.

According to WWD, Bernard Arnault is in talks with Jacobs about moving from Louis Vuitton to Dior, and meetings have reportedly been scheduled in Paris this week between Dior officials and legal representatives for Jacobs. Jacobs, who signed on as Vuitton's artistic director in 1997, has been in the midst of renewing his employment contract at Vuitton, but those discussions are said to have been put on hold, pending the outcome of Jacobs's discussions with Dior.

One source cautioned WWD that deal with Jacobs is not done, but both the designer and Dior management are so far "excited" about the prospect. If the deal goes through, Jacobs will get his first opportunity as a couturier, and his business partner Robert Duffy would come with him. Dior declined to comment on the reports, and Jacobs could not be reached for comment.

As for who would replace Jacobs at Vuitton, it sounds like Phoebe Philo could be first in line. LVMH has already reportedly held preliminary discussions with Philo, who is said to be "intrigued" by the project. If the shuffling plays out, it's reportedly likely she would design Vuitton in addition to Celine.

WWD reports that a number of potential candidates have been approached to succeed John Galliano, who exited Dior in March, including Alber Elbaz, Nicolas Ghesquière, Sarah Burton, Haider Ackermann and Hedi Slimane. Elbaz and Ghesquiere, who both have equity stakes in and strong commitments to the houses they design for, have withdrawn themselves from the running, and Burton is said to have rebuffed overtures. Talks with Ackermann and Slimane, meanwhile, did not end in an agreement. As for Riccardo Tisci, he is still considered a dark-horse candidate, and has been championed by Delphine Arnault, Dior deputy managing director and Bernard Arnault's daughter.

>> In anticipation of his Lifetime Achievement Award, which he will receive during the CFDA Awards Monday, Marc Jacobs (who notes of the award, "It’s not my achievement, number one. It is Marc Jacobs as a company") sat down with WWD to wax philosophical on everything from Alexander Wang to Twitter to whether he considers himself a "great talent."

Highlights from the interview, below.

On what he did for Memorial Day: “Memorial Day? I don’t think I’ve had a Memorial Day off in 30 years. We’re all here [at the office]. The design team’s here, working through Saturday, Sunday, Monday. I’ll go to the gym every morning, but I’ll be here after the gym. It’s resort.”

On his success and being recognized in public and approached by fans: "I can’t help but remember the days when Robert [Duffy, his business partner] and I were interviewed for 48 Hours [in 1988]. Robert was building a runway. I’m vomiting in the bathroom because we hadn’t slept in three days and we were delirious and hallucinating. So none of that ever goes away."

On whether he's a "great talent": "No. I still wouldn’t say I am ... I don’t mind if you say it but I’m not going to say it myself."

On winning this year's CFDA Lifetime Achievement award: "I haven’t even sat down to write the [CFDA] speech yet but I’ve been thinking a lot about it, about what does this mean to me and what does this mean to us. I just turned 48 but I don’t feel 48. I still feel like a young person but I really see the difference in the work. I’m trying to understand what all of that means and how I feel about it."

On younger designers: "People ask me about the younger designers, Alex Wang and all of them, I think they’re great. I couldn’t do what they do. It’s not what I do. But just like in pop music and in the art world, people always want new work from the artist that they like but they also want new artists. I don’t think one changes the other. There’s always room for new designers, new musicians, new artists, new writers. Madonna, I don’t think is showing any signs of slowing down, but that doesn’t mean Lady Gaga isn’t taking over the world."

On the most recent Louis Vuitton show: "I loved the Vuitton show. I think as a show it was probably my favorite presentation we’ve ever done of a collection. I really loved it ... I’ve spent the past two weeks, which is superpremature, thinking that I don’t know what we’re going to do to top that last Vuitton show. I thought it was the most beautiful presentation. I think, 'Why am I doing this to myself?' but it’s inevitable. When I get back to Paris two weeks from now, I’m just going to be like, 'What are we going to do? What are we going to do?' The answer won’t come right away."

On designers he admires: "I think the greatest contributors to fashion are women. Chanel, Vionnet. I think Vivienne Westwood; I think Miuccia Prada; Schiaparelli, Rei Kawakubo ... The one that I probably feel the most strongly about is Miuccia, because of the aesthetic and the mood. There’s something so shocking and so tender about it, and it’s also very real ... There’s an eccentricity but there’s also a chic old world sophistication, but it’s so new. It’s young but never vulgar. There’s a sex appeal that’s kind of naïve. It’s all the things I love."

On his debt to Tom Ford: "I felt that [being hired for Vuitton] was all born from Tom [Ford’s] success at Gucci. I believe Mr. Arnault was aware of that and said, 'We can do that with Vuitton.'"

On working for Bernard Arnault: "I meet with Mr. Arnault every time I’m in Paris. He’s such a hands-on sort of guy. He goes to every store in every country and he discusses things with me ... He was thrilled with the last [Vuitton] show. He felt that one and the one around the fountain were how he would like women to see Vuitton’s image as a fashion brand. He’s very up front and honest with me about what he likes and what he doesn’t like, what he thinks works and also what he thinks works in other places. Not that he’s asking me to do what someone else does, but to look at the success of certain things."

On the resources available to him at Louis Vuitton: "If you look at our first Vuitton show, we wanted to send out a nice collection of simple clothes with all the logos on the inside and one single bag on Kirsten Owen. It has evolved into, ‘OK, this is Paris. Let’s have three elevators.’ I asked for six; I got three. So we’re like, ‘Let’s get Kate Moss, Naomi [Campbell]. Let’s fly in Stella [Tennant]. Let’s fly in Carolyn [Murphy] and Amber [Valletta].’ You want a show? Okay guys, I’ll give you a show."

On critics: "You are dealing with a whole lot of highly sensitive people who [will react] depending on their mood and how they’re feeling that day or what they did or didn’t eat for lunch. I have no problem going on record with this and probably have gone on record with this before, there aren’t that many people who I respect. There just aren’t. I think journalists have the right to their opinions but I think their opinions should be based on history and what they see, not what they feel, how long they’ve been waiting or whether it’s raining or it’s snowing or whatever."

On whether traditional media matters anymore: "I’m not sure it does as much as it used to, and I’m not sure how much it ever did ... [But] I feel like it affects the energy of all of us. In fashion we all gossip about it because within our community it’s extremely important. I think it breaks momentum or a sort of energy when there’s harsh criticism, and I think when the critique is positive, we all feel quite robust and we’re out there. In that way, it has an effect. But in another, I think a woman’s going to go into a shop to find a coat or a jacket and I just don’t think she’s not going to go into a shop because of a bad review she probably didn’t even read."

On joining Twitter: "I’ve got better things to do. I don’t need to talk to like schoolteachers from New Jersey about what was valid [in a collection] and what was invalid and what was derivative and what was referencing. I mean, I’ve just got work to do. I really don’t care to argue with you."

• Behind the scenes at H&M's Fashion Against AIDS shoot — Racked
• Marc Jacobs CEO Robert Duffy sued by former employee — Vogue UK Daily
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• Cheap and chic Canadian label Joe Fresh to open up shop stateside — Teen Vogue
• Carven opens a boutique in Paris — FabSugarUK
• Net-a-Porter and Prada team up for Runway to Green — Purse Blog
• How to wear Spring's runway trends at the office — Lucky
• Traveling light: 'tis the season of the small handbag — Vogue Daily

>> A former Marc Jacobs executive filed a sex discrimination lawsuit earlier this week against Robert Duffy, Marc Jacobs International, and LVMH. Jacobs himself was not named in the suit.

The plaintiff, Patrice Lataillade, who was CFO and COO of Marc Jacobs International until his dismissal last September, alleges that Duffy “uses company funds for personal expenses and does not censor what he does or says.” The suit also gives examples of "Duffy's conduct which created a hostile work environment," including "his displaying [of] gay pornography in the office and requiring employees to look at it; his production and dissemination of a book which included photos of MJI staff in sexual positions or nude; [and] his requirement that an MJI store employee perform a pole dance for him."

Lataillade, who had worked at LVMH since May 1996 (and joined MJI in 2002), said in court papers that he complained of Duffy's behavior to MJI executives and the LVMH general counsel, but nothing was done. Other employees had also complained, the suit says, but a woman was told she needed a "thicker skin" and a man was instructed to "go home early and have a drink." Lataillade was fired "within less than a week" after his lawyers sent an email to the CEO of MJI and the LVMH general counsel regarding the "legal situation," and he alleges that he was “fired in retaliation for objecting to a discriminatory environment offensive to him.”

A Jacobs spokeswoman called the claims "false": "Patrice Lataillade was terminated as CFO and COO of [Marc Jacobs International] for serious matters unrelated to the allegations made in the complaint." And an LVMH spokeswoman said similarly: “The allegations contained in the complaint are false. Patrice Lataillade was terminated as chief financial officer and chief operating officer of MJI for serious matters unrelated to the allegations contained in the complaint. MJI, LVMH Inc. and Robert Duffy will vigorously defend the case in court.”

At the time of his discharge, Lataillade's compensation package was $1 million a year; he is seeking lost wages, compensatory and punitive damages, lawyer's fees, and other relief deemed appropriate by the court.