Marc Jacobs to leave Louis Vuitton
FAME. US designer Marc Jacobs acknowleges the public at the end of the Louis Vuitton 2014 Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection fashion show. AFP Photo
PARIS, France - Designer Marc Jacobs is set to leave Louis Vuitton to concentrate on his own brand and a future stock exchange flotation, a report said on Wednesday, October 2.
Both the 50-year-old US designer and Bernard Arnault, chairman of Louis Vuitton parent company LVMH, confirmed the end of Jacobs' 16-year tenure at the French luxury brand to industry journal Women's Wear Daily.
The news coincided with Jacobs' Louis Vuitton show on the last day of Paris fashion week.
Jacobs' contract is due to expire at the end of the year. An initial public offering (IPO), expected within the next 3 years, will require Jacobs to be fully focused on his own brand in order to ensure the highest possible valuation.
A successor has not been named but Louis Vuitton is understood to have held talks with former Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquiere about succeeding Jacobs as artistic director, sources told WWD earlier.
Jacobs is credited with transforming Louis Vuitton from a "stodgy luggage house to a global fashion presence".
Frenchman Ghesquiere parted company with Balenciaga in November 2012 following a 15-year tenure. - Rappler.com
