There is a sequence in “Marc by Sofia,” Sofia Coppola‘s new documentary on Marc Jacobs, which is debuting at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, where the director asks the American fashion designer about his legendary 1992 grunge collection for Perry Ellis. That collection was a stylistic jump for the longtime women’s wear brand that was critically acclaimed and influential, yet a financial disappointment. Acknowledging that everyone thinks he got fired from Perry Ellis for that collection, Jacobs suggests there were other reasons. And then we never hear what those reasons are. The subject is just dropped. An inherent frustration that occurs more than once with a portrait that somehow teases more than it enlightens.
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Filmed during the preparation for Jacobs’ Spring 2024 collection, the 40th anniversary of his label (a fact that, if mentioned, was under half a breath), Coppola captures Jacobs and his team as they endure their 10-week-long creative process. Well, sort of. A youthful 60 years old at the time, Jacobs is initially focused on selecting materials for his individual pieces. He spends time discussing the different aspects of the wool he’s looking for, but there’s very little seen of Jacobs’ designing. Instead, Coppola focuses on what we assume is more intriguing to her: his cinematic inspirations and the scope of his massive runway show. And, to be fair, she ended up picking the right collection. This particular show was a masterful 7-minute presentation set under the backdrop of Robert Therrien‘s 2006 sculpture “No Title (Folding Table and Chairs, Beige).” For a designer who has had his share of memorable unveilings on this side of the Atlantic, it’s aesthetically one of his best. But, only so much of Jacobs’ creative process is shown.
To be fair, Coppola does coax Jacobs to dive into his adoration of the “Big Spender” number in the movie “Sweet Charity” as an inspiration. A scene that left a huge impression on him as a child. And in this new collection, that reverence for the ’60s and divas such as Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, and Liza Minnelli is apparent in numerous ensembles, including one absolute stunner of an iridescent silver gown. And the wigs. Time is spent on the over 100 puffed-out wigs created beforehand. That’s fun, I guess.
The longer the documentary goes on, however, you begin to wonder if Jacobs asked Coppola, his friend of 30 years, to avoid discussing specific subjects, or whether there is inherently little organic drama in his creative life. Jacobs admits he’s impatient and always wants his shows to start early (they will always be on time, at worst), and there is one minor mishap with the back of a dress that is quickly fixed with a safety pin, but it’s all pretty smooth sailing. Perhaps it’s because Jacobs has been conjuring collections for decades that he knows how to pull it off like the back of his hand, or maybe he’s just good at hiding anything messy.
Strangely, for a designer who has spent a good deal of his life in the public eye, only a smattering of his life is touched upon. You’ll learn about the reverential love for his grandmother, whom he lived with as a teenager, and his rough relationship with his stepfather, but so much of it is in passing. His husband is never mentioned. As a proud, native New Yorker and out gay man, his years trying to break out in the fashion business at the height of the AIDS crisis is never even casually touched upon (one friend remembers meeting him at Danceteria in 1981, and that’s as close as you get to that). His 16 years at Louis Vuitton are utterly glossed over. There is absolutely no mention that his brand name was so big that by 2013, there were over 200 Marc Jacobs stores around the world, and he closed them all two years later. In fact, as noted earlier, why he’s gone in one business direction or another is left completely to your imagination. And there is almost nothing about the handbags that have been the lifeblood of his career (although they are seen throughout the film).
Coppola does talk to a smattering of random people who have met him over the years to try and piece together a portrait of a personality described as inquisitive and energetic (Pharrell Williams, currently in Jacobs’ old position at Vuitton, appears in an archive clip). But for the most part, at least in this setting, Jacobs seems somewhat shy. Maybe Coppola wasn’t expecting that. Maybe he’s more candid off camera. Or, perhaps framing the documentary around the show (a majority takes place the day before and at the runway itself) was genuinely her real interest.
Whatever the case, the best part about “Marc by Sofia” turns out to be the clothes. This particular collection, with its overexaggerated proportions, textile fabrics, grandmother-inspired brooches, decked on models with drag-queen hair and gigantic doll-like eyelashes, has forever been captured in history. And as Coppola teases Jacobs’ brilliance over the decades, you realize he may not have gotten his due as one of the most influential designers of the past 50 years. He may have been taken for granted both inside the insular fashion world and by the public at large. And, at worst, you just hope sometime soon, another filmmaker tackles an extended film or docu-series about him and really gives him his due.
Assuming he’ll talk to anyone else, that is. [C+]
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