Original subtitles

(playful xylophone music)

- [Voiceover] Ladies and gentlemen, Marc Jacobs.

- Hello

- [Man] We're in that truck.

- [Marc] That's the truck?

- [Voiceover] Marc Jacobs in pigeon disguise

for his end of year New York party,

forced to ride in a truck, as his costume is so huge,

it won't fit into any car.

But, that epitomizes a whole state of mind,

that of the most influential American fashion designer

of his generation.

- [Crowd] Hi! - Hello

(classical music)

- [Voiceover] The theme of the party is Venice.

Anyone not in costume, is not allowed in.

The doors open at 8 pm sharp, and close at 8:15.

It's fun, but serious fun.

The whole of New York has fought for invites,

to this now legendary party,

in the great French tradition of mask wearing

fashion designers like Jacques Fath, or Paul Poiret.

A somewhat overblown party,

because Marc Jacobs has been walking on air

since he became artistic director with Louis Vuitton,

and helped transform the French luggage maker

into the most profitable luxury business ever.

(ominous sounds overlying classical music)

(parade fanfare music)

- [Voiceover] Store openings have become the new premieres.

A movie can be a flop, but not a store opening.

When Louis Vuitton re-opened his flagship store

on the Champs-Élysées in Paris,

undenied rumor had it that the megalomaniac amount

spent on renovating the building had been amortized

in just one month.

- If we didn't love fashion, we'd be naked.

- [Voiceover] Luxury today means reckoning

with the world's market leader.

The LVMH Group, uniting over 60 different brands

of clothing, champagne, watches, and leather goods,

and its golden goose, accounting for half of it sales

is Louis Vuitton, a genre model,

it's most emblematic and profitable brand

with its 19th century monogram,

a yearly turnover of several billion Euros,

hundreds of stores worldwide,

and for each new opening, endless queues of diehards,

ready to shower the shop assistants

with bank notes.

(energetic instrumental music)

The man at the heart of the Vuitton miracle

is Bernard Arnault, the business man who bought the brand

in 1989 and transformed it into

an international giant on the up.

He's the richest man in France,

but also something of an enigma.

His boldest decision was to appoint

a young, independent, and unpredictable American designer

as Artistic Director of Vuitton,

inventor of grunge, Marc Jacobs.

- [Voiceover] Vuitton's specialty is leather bags.

Yet, as I look at the model's hands

during his first March '98 fashion show reveals,

Marc had sought of forgotten something.

- [Voiceover] Yet, it wasn't long before he'd given

the bags a makeover, transforming them every season

while remaining faithful to Vuitton craftsmanship.

He's incredibly popular, and seems to live

in a whirlwind of stars.

- Look at us, what a motley crew we are, huh?

- [Voiceover] Here's the first row at a Vuitton show.

Jade Jagger, Ludivine Sangnier, Diane Kruger, Winona Ryder,

the singer Eve, Wes Anderson, Marilyn Manson,

stripper Dita Von Tees, painter Elizabeth Peyton,

Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami.

On the next block, Vuitton boss, Yves Carcelle,

Salma Hayek, Alexander Payne, Misses Deneuve and Thurman,

Mr. & Mrs Arnault, Sharon Stone, Pharrell Williams,

Gillian Anderson, the French Minister of Trade,

one Spanish Duke, and

the Minister of the Economy's wife, phew!

But to understand what lies behind this creativeness

one must access Marc Jacobs, the only problem is

Marc Jacobs cannot be filmed, he's off limits.

He's very straight up in interviews,

yet has never allowed a camera

to look at his creative process.

- [Marc] No, no, no, no, no.

- [Woman] Anyone not doing hair and makeup, get out!

- [Voiceover] About to give up after years

of trying to approach him to no avail,

we noticed a chink in the armor, Camille Miceli,

a key member of his inner circle,

artistic advisor to Marc Jacobs at Vuitton,

she also designs jewelry that seems

to drive Naomi Campbell crazy,

and organizes the shows.

- Camille said we're not on the list.

- [Voiceover] It so happened that her mother,

Dominique Miceli could get us access to this "in-crowd."

- I love your daughter so much,

and I love her mom, and I love her brother,

so the Miceli family for me, it's like ...

As long as I have you guys in my life, I'm okay.

- [Voiceover] So, we took her on as our guide and chaperone,

and she got is in everywhere.

New York, Tokyo, London, Paris,

introducing us to close friends and collaborators.

- I'm not sure about - [Dominique] Allo

- Something like that, but - [Dominique] Ah, d'accord!

- [Voiceover] Okay, she did speak a little loud

on the phone sometimes during interviews, but she was nice.

We started filming with a skeleton crew of three.

Dominique, a sound engineer, and a cameraman.

- That's Louis.

- I think every shoot should be like this.

- [Man] Yeah?

- Yeah, it feels so much ...you don't need

more than three people.

- This is all being documented for French TV

so everyone on their best behavior please.

- [Voiceover] Like we said,

Marc Jacobs works for two labels,

his own based in New York, and Louis Vuitton in Paris.

- Louis Vuitton Paris would be like this.

And then Marc Jacobs Paris would be like this.

(laugh)

Or like this.

- [Voiceover] Marc Jacobs set up his own label

when he was 20, with faithful associate Robert Duffy,

always by his side, through good and bad,

and of course during the negotiations with Vuitton.

Robert Duffy of the wide open shirt collar

is behind his champion night and day.

He's the one who oragnizes the zany end of year parties.

Marc Jacobs is a bucker of trends par excellence.

He's afraid of nothing.

- There's my ass.

- [Voiceover] One of his brands is called Stinky Rat,

and its logo is a stinky rat.

In his window displays, he's taken a political stand

against his government, and the war in Iraq.

He's done everything a marketing consultant

would urge one not to do with a luxury brand,

yet his stores are full, with an average spend

per customer of over $3,000,

according to in-house statistics.

- [Announcer] Mister Marc Jacobs!

- [Crowd] Hey!

- [Voiceover] He's won a ton of awards,

but keeps a level head.

- [Interviewer] That's important for fashion

right now, don't you think?

- I don't know, "important" and "fashion"

shouldn't be used in the same sentence.

(crowd screams)

- [Voiceover] Never coy, he's always up

for a bit of star play, and if a photographer

asks him to scream his head off

with his friends and crew for an hour, he'll do it.

(crowd screams)

- So sky is the limit.

(upbeat rock music)

- [Voiceover] Before catching the preparations

for the Vuitton show in Paris,

we were told we could film the buildup

to his own show in New York.

"Come at ten, you'll get to see Marc Jacobs at work."

So, off we went, to the heart of the hippest area,

where on the intercom we noticed

it was just above a poet's circle.

Eighth floor, here we are.

There he is.

- Look!

- [Voiceover] A portrait of Sofia Coppola

by Elizabeth Peyton on the wall,

and on the desk, seven CFDA trophies,

the US fashion Oscars.

- [Man] Breakfast?

- Protein bar, yeah.

- [Man] A protein bar?

So, we should try a nice version

of that pocket shape, right?

And, fix the fly.

I think we should try the heavier thread.

- [Voiceover] This is the inner sanctum.

No one has ever filmed here,

and especially not this,

the elaboration of Marc Jacobs' collection as it happens.

He cuts fabric on the floor,

cobbles together pants that would be

on the catwalk one week later.

This is it, in the making.

And at last, we're in.

He even lets us film him ironing.

- Making a documentary.

- [Woman] Really?

- Uh-Hmm.

- [Woman] Oh good.

- We have it good.

- [Voiceover] So how does

the Marc Jacobs machine actually work?

From this moment on, we'd be able to observe it.

(classical music and electronic mix)

In the room that night, were Joseph and Shelly.

Shelly is the cabin model.

Tattooed all over, she fits clothes all night long.

Standing on 15-inch heels for hours on end,

her main concern is to keep her blood circulating.

(electronic music plays)

- Oh, sorry Shell.

(classical music and electronic mix)

- Your shoulders are the perfect shoulder.

- Small? They're small?

- Yeah.

- Ants could dance on my shoulders.

- I think it's more desirable in a woman.

- [Voiceover] Joseph is the body and soul,

totally devoted assistant.

- Oh my God Joseph, you look amazing now.

(laughter)

- [Voiceover] Joseph, is Marc Jacobs second eye,

he can't do without him.

- Joseph?

Joseph?

Where did he go?

Anybody see Joseph?

Where did Joseph go?

I need to see Joseph, is Joseph available?

Can he come out here.

Oh, Joseph ...

Joseph

Joseph

Joseph

Where's Joseph?

- [Voiceover] And when he finds him,

he's over the moon.

- Yay!

Lots to do Joseph.

It's gonna work.

Well?

Very nice.

("Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel)

It's very caught in the seam isn't it?

Maybe, it's weird period, let's see.

What do you think ladies?

(crowds makes approving noises)

Of this creation?

It's gonna be in white, with silver.

- [Voiceover] He and Joseph try out some roughs

of dresses on Shelly, in colors garish and disturbing.

A vision that would only come clear

the following week on the catwalk.

("Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel)

The staff at Jacobs' New York workshop

is unflinchingly faithful,

many have been there since the brand was created.

They've known the ups and downs,

the near bankruptcies, and the many sleepless nights.

- Usually, when we interview somebody

we try to explain that the two weeks

before the show, they will not be sleeping.

Maybe one hour, two hours a night.

- So, we have to do fast.

No time to sleep.

- New people don't believe you.

But, after one season, they believe you.

- This is my a, let's see, my 24th collection with Marc.

- Some of them for like years, and years,

like fifteen years.

- I was in the army, then I came to fashion.

- Believe me, they're not really very happy

about it here but ...

Everybody here works very hard, but in America,

this what we do, is work ... as Mohammed Ali said.

- [Voiceover] But luckily Marc Jacobs has a secret

molecule to boost his troops morale.

- Have some sugar, it'll keep you going.

(crowd applauds and cheers)

- [Voiceover] Sugar-doped troops who it seems

absolutely worship him.

- How you doing?

(offscreen beckoning noise)

What?

- I want you to sign my hat.

- Okay

- Please

- Yeah

Okay.

(hip hop plays on radio)

- Love it.

- Good

Enjoy!

- Got it!

- [Woman] What does it say?

- Got it!

- [Man] Oh wow.

- Look everybody!

- [Voiceover] The working conditions are special.

As they say here, we're family.

- [Man] Go Ash, yeah.

- Come on Ash, let's do the hustle.

- The hustle bustle.

(laugh)

- You don't know how to do the hustle?

- No, I do know how to do the hustle bustle.

- You're too young, c'mon.

- I'm not too young to do the hustle ...

- Do this, you to the slide thing.

Follow me, don't be so stiff.

- I can't do this ... - Relax, relax, relax.

- The whole company feels very like,

like family atmosphere.

Robert Duffy I think makes a nice environment,

and a lot of people have worked there for a long time.

So, I always feel very at home when I go there.

In any case, everybody seems pretty relaxed.

Like the models who come for casting sessions,

and who change in plain view, unabashed all day long.

Marc Jacobs works on two fronts.

In New York for his own brand,

and in Paris for Louis Vuitton.

Obviously in the Vuitton building,

things are not so homey.

In this global company, you need

a different badge for every door.

At Vuitton too, something totally new,

we'd be allowed to follow over a period of months

the creative process of Marc Jacobs and his Paris teams,

which began with an attack of meeting-itis.

- How are you today Loïc?

- [Loïc] Alright, and you?

- I'm super-fine.

(energetic orchestral music)

- [Voiceover] Of course, we were dying to see

and understand how Marc Jacobs eye is nourished,

how it adapts to a system like Vuitton's.

He starts out with walls of inspiration.

Everything gets posted there.

Old magazine photos, pretty freaky portraits,

photocopies of tortured bits of fabric, flowers.

It all amounts to a sort of riddle.

Half an idea here, a bit of that spirit there.

A whiff of this, a resemblance of that.

During the Vuitton bag meetings,

the technique is always the same.

The team brainstorms scores of proposal panels,

samples, drawings and photographs.

Of course, this is a laboratory,

one where billions are made.

With ideas in the making, which as yet,

not patented, cannot be filmed.

- Here there is different options.

- That I would absolutely love to do,

but I'm sure we would have a lot of problems.

- [Voiceover] Alligator skin of every shade.

Zany inventions that will make the competition

green with envy.

- We've tried to to a new texture, with leather.

- [Voiceover] Also in the making, new fasteners,

new monograms, here, the unexpected rules.

The quest for visual neologism.

Is it ugly or beautiful?

It's the eternal question of the new.

- I mean, is it so horrible, that it's good?

(laugh)

Maybe it's just so horrible, that it's horrible.

- [Voiceover] Dilemma is the watchword

while one reflects and awaits enlightenment.

(tense electronic music)

- That was the other thing, what was I looking

at the other day ... little bells.

You know those pretty little bells

like that look like Lily of the Valley,

- [Group] Yes.

That might be a nice thing to have,

hanging from a bag, like little bells.

- [Man] Yeah - I like it.

- Why did I think of that?

- [Voiceover] Yet amidst all this industry,

there are also long periods of meditative silence.

(pop music plays in the background)

Waiting for an angel to pass.

In house legend has it,

that such meetings are haunted by faeries.

(whistling)

(footsteps)

(door creaks)

- Bad faeries getting in here.

(laughter)

- [Woman] They're skyping.

- [Voiceover] Yet, sometimes these creative meetings

are indeed haunted, by old dead clothes

trying to come back to life.

For example, that day, a dowdy old mauve acrylic sweater

is about to be raised from the dead,

with a touch of Marc Jacobs' healing hands.

(hip hop music plays in the background)

The sweater is sized up, compared to other materials,

other colors.

A DNA sample is taken.

And glory be, a few weeks later,

our old mauve, acrylic sweater has become

a young mauve, Marc Jacobs cashmere sweater.

And its rather plain pattern has been

considerably refreshed in the process.

(classical music)

Louis Vuitton isn't exactly summer camp,

the parents are around.

There's a certain Bernard Arnault,

a huge organization, numerous marketing teams,

and an omnipresent CEO, Yves Carcelle.

Among other colossal play things,

is a special room, where hundreds of up and coming

window displays are reproduced life-size,

waiting for heavy duty approval.

- [Voiceover] At Vuitton, anything is possible,

if you want to fly the whole HQ staff and studio

to Japan to stage an exact remake of the earlier

Paris show in a lunar bubble built specially

for the occasion on the outskirts of Tokyo,

then you do it.

- [Man on PA] Can we get all the cameras

in the dressing area!

- [Man on PA] This is Alain for everybody in queue eight.

(drums)

- [Alain on PA] I need 75 staff in the runway area.

- [Alain on PA] Thank you.

(opera music)

- And the stone is going to be clean.

So the woman with the heel,

they just step like this, on the stone.

They do a walk.

Whoa

Shall we continue?

Allez

- [Voiceover] The guest list is a who's who

of the Asia Pacific region.

Singers, movie stars, contemporary artists.

- [Voiceover] Nothing is left to chance.

Press agents have compiled the outfit, bag, and shoes

of each of their guests,

so that no one will suffer the supreme humiliation

of wearing someone else's precious unique piece.

The models too are identical to the Paris show.

They've flown an average of 25 hours

for about 27 seconds on the catwalk.

But everyone here seems to find that normal.

It all seems really over the top.

But, it's hard to believe that so much money

is being squandered to no purpose.

- [Voiceover] And when the stars arrive,

it's pure bliss.

(joyful scream)

No one is wearing the same shoes, the same outfit,

or the same bag.

- [Interviewer] Are you excited?

- Oh, very excited.

- [Voiceover] Vuitton boss Yves Carcelle greets

LVMH boss Bernard Arnault.

- [Reporter] Why did you choose Tokyo to be

the home of the show?

- We stuck a pin on the map.

(laughter)

That's how we do things at Louis Vuitton, totally random.

(laughter)

So random, we just throw a dart.

- Oops

- [Voiceover] The shoes, the dresses, the bags,

the stars, everything is in order.

The show can begin.

(intense instrumental music)

And at last, Asia can applaud the incredible,

the one and only, Marc Jacobs.

And now, it's party time.

(disco dance music)

The Emperor of Luxury gives him the thumbs up,

everyone clamors to get photographed with him.

This will be a night like no other.

Fueled by a thousand magnums of French champagne.

(rapid Tabla music)

(Scottish bagpipe music)

While triumph and hysteria reign the dance floor,

a radiant Bernard Arnault gives a lecture

on economic strategy, and suddenly it all seems so simple.

- We are the only company, completely integrated,

with product, produce, everything in our ...

(drowned by dance music)

with our craftsmen, and we sell only in our own shops.

When the others, all the other brands,

they do sell, and they sell also wholesale.

We don't do it.

It's the reason why we do it so exclusive.

It's the only brand in the world that has ...

(drowned by dance music)

(Sottish bagpipe music)

- [Voiceover] Usually, there's nothing worse

than these big corporate parties

where snobs and shareholders pretend to have fun.

But here, the hippest in town have all been invited,

and genuine excitement, mingled with jet lag,

seems to be blending into a working cocktail.

Even Marc Jacobs is dancing.

Everyone's letting rip, but isn't that a flower pot?

(singing in a foreign language)

- [Voiceover] Yeah, you have to throw parties

and attend religious ceremonies to bless new stores

according to the local customs.

(religious Japanese chanting)

(claps)

(Scottish bagpipe music)

- [Voiceover] The crowd drank, laughed and danced

as if there was no tomorrow.

But next day, Marc Jacobs had to go back to Paris.

(energetic instrumental music)

- So excellent.

- [Voiceover] From their trip to Japan,

the Vuitton teams have brought back kimono belts, of course,

but also these books of dolls that seem to be everywhere.

Dolls with cutesy flowered headbands

that will make their mark.

(energetic instrumental music)

Headbands whose flowers are about to be aged and stressed.

- [Voiceover] And when exploding them won't do the trick,

they're crushed until their beauty

is unanimously agreed upon.

- [Voiceover] Says she, destroying flowers.

- It's all about destruction.

- [Voiceover] Much better! - Ah oui la, parfait.

- Maybe they can, when they dip a little bit in tea.

- [Voiceover] But there's worse than tea.

Everything has to be bleached,

including jewelry and embroidery in baby baths on the roof.

- [Voiceover] Only problem is, bleach smells,

and is highly corrosive.

- [Voiceover] The quest is for more or less

random destruction, because the idea of chaos

interests Marc Jacobs.

Chaos he plays with, draping the model as he goes,

or even with nothing to go on,

no safety net whatsoever.

- You can have a bit of this blouse,

and a bit of a pin tuck.

- Yeah

- You can go there.

- Yeah

- Ivories of whatever, or these things, you know,

under those things. - Yup

- That looks nice.

- Yeah

- Maybe those can just be like shells

or something more hard, you know what I mean?

Because the necklines here are so romantic.

Maybe that should be like just chopped up like crew neck.

- Yeah

- [Voiceover] So a photograph is taken,

and Marc Jacobs synthesizes his vision

into a technical drawing so the workshop staff

can understand it.

(contemplative instrumental music)

This taste for cut and paste, for chaotic choppiness,

tends to rankle during bag meetings.

By way of freeform cutting into raw monogrammed canvas,

the search for new shapes,

the accumulation of old bags on the floor,

a pocket retrospective of Marc Jacobs' cult Vuitton bags,

and a python patchwork shoe, an idea emerges.

That of a quasi cubist, mix-and-match bag.

- Maybe, it'd be good to take,

like the quilting we did do for the Fall,

and do it in ivory.

- Yeah

- A bit of that for part of a bag,

and put it with the new smocking thing,

and put it with a denim, and put it with,

maybe even see if we could change

some of the graffiti-ed, a white on brown,

and a bit of appliqué from Julian,

you know, just like, kinda everything.

- That would be good.

- Could be.

So it would be nice to see all these things together,

to see that we really can combine.

- [Voiceover] Sometime later, it becomes a muddle

still far from approved.

Of course, Marc Jacobs is going to put his spoke in.

A lot of spokes.

- But maybe it should go this way.

- [Woman] Yup. - What about like this?

And chopped.

- I think it's too much.

Maybe we outta tape like that.

- [Voiceover] We also witnessed the birth

of new shoes, with Frabrizio Viti, the house shoe stylist.

We'd all already met him in Tokyo.

(Scottish bagpipe music)

He starts out with a men's shoe.

A disco man's shoe.

- So we thought that maybe the only place

where we can still find issues is very base.

- [Voiceover] A Glam disco man's shoe.

- Very, very bad taste man's shoes.

- [Voiceover] A high heeled Glam disco shoe.

We're between two minds.

Some models look pretty funky.

(funky electronic music)

When suddenly ...

- You have more like this kind of a thing?

(pencil on paper)

- [Woman] Yeah, oui.

- There's a hole inside. - Yeah, and wrapped like that.

Yeah, of course.

- [Voiceover] And bingo, a few weeks later

the boxes arrived from the Vuitton workshops in Italy.

(crinkly paper unfolds)

- Ooh, the green one.

- [Voiceover] Not in the least masculine.

But as a starting point,

it was a necessary, if throwaway, step.

- [Woman] Oh, look at that!

- [Voiceover] Yet, one unexpected production hitch,

is that the metal heels turn out to be really heavy,

and cannot be modified before the show.

- You walk down the runway, and you'll have

like legs like Arnold Schwarzenegger in this

by the time you get back.

(energetic electronic music)

- [Voiceover] In New York too, we were there

when the boxes for the Marc Jacobs' label were opened.

And each one held a surprise,

paper flowers made by feather maker Le Marielle,

from American sandwich wrapping.

- This, I love these.

The French butcher paper.

- [Voiceover] Others cut into French butcher shop paper.

- C'est joli non?

C'est le boucherie 110 rue dans ...

Oh the French, boy do they know

how to make beautiful flowers.

- [Voiceover] Because this mix of rich and poor,

ugly and beautiful, twee and twisted,

is a Marc Jacobs obsession.

- Yeah, tragic.

(hard rock music)

Okay, as screwy as it can be, the better.

- Yeah, okay.

- You know what I mean?

'Cause, I like them more fucked up than ...

- Yeah, yeah.

- [Voiceover] Of course if a T-shirt is to be made screwy,

the screwiness will be perfectly controlled, hole by hole.

- That hole is very important.

- Sssst!

- You know, it's not just any hole.

Defects are good, we're celebrating them.

There is another possibility, which is even more ridiculous.

I don't think it will look ridiculous in a bad way.

I think, I mean I uses that word in the very nice sense.

It's great being uncool.

So this is brassiere, let's have a walk in the brassiere,

which I love, but it may be too ugly.

But I mean, it's really good.

It's really good but it's really ugly.

I know that, and I like that.

Don't worry!

As soon as I get my clothes, I'll push it really far.

So far, that you might, that we may get hams thrown at us.

Oh, let me see those violet ones.

Robert, like this is really super insane.

Look at the falling down heels on that.

- That is awesome.

- [Voiceover] Though he plays around with his clothes,

when it comes to musically staging them,

he knows exactly what he wants.

A remix of a great classic, Pachelbel's Canon.

("Canon in D" remix)

Intrigued by such a choice, we simply asked him why?

And out came one of the keys

to how it all works in his head.

- I had it in my mind, this Pachelbel, I don't know why.

I like, I get very ... It comes from ...

I don't know, just like all of a sudden like,

think of something kind of cliché,

in a way, and I just think okay but,

I don't want to do it exactly the ... Way I know it.

It's that simple really.

(laugh)

It's so completely, not a real, cerebral concept.

I mean it's very pretty, it's nice.

I mean I can see Sofia wearing it like that.

- [Voiceover] We were beginning to fall under his spell,

just like Sofia Coppola, barefoot, pink nails,

her ballet flats nearby, Laduree candles

on the coffee table, white smelling peonies,

Fellini and Soderbergh DVD's to catch up on,

painting still unwrapped, and expecting a baby,

she gave us her take on Marc Jacobs' vision.

- Mark is such a creative person,

and creative people, creativity, is mysterious I think.

So, I don't know exactly how he translates

what he sees into what he makes,

but I can relate to, um,

or I can see how he takes a lot of different information

and interests and combines it in his work,

which I think is interesting.

- [Voiceover] A novelist Francine Prose tried

to explain this state of grace.

- Its kind of a charmed situation,

I mean that is anything that is associated with Marc Jacobs

instantly becomes popular.

So, essentially they could call any line

anything they wanted to,

and if there were a connection with Marc Jacobs,

it would be incredibly popular.

It's sort of the combination of extremely stylish,

extremely beautiful, extremely unpretentious,

and extremely hip.

I mean the cachet is extraordinary.

- You know, I have a teenage daughter,

all her friends, I mean to them, Marc is God.

- He is an American genius in fashion.

- [Voiceover] But for now, the American genius in fashion,

is stressing him out in the limo

that is taking him to the first show of the season.

The New York show of his own label.

In the backstage half light,

he seems to be the only one who can read the whole puzzle,

to know how many balls he has in the air,

an adrenaline overdose he knows how to handle.

It seems nerves and a knife edge are key

to his creative process.

- Sasha, can you go back with Ryan in the white T shirt.

("Canon in D" by Pachelbel remix)

(claps)

- [Woman] Alana!

Alana!

Diani!

Maya!

Alana!

- [Voiceover] The Marc Jacobs New York show

is the key event of the North American fashion scene.

It's the place to be.

Even the blasé of Hollywood can't quite believe it.

- This is more press than at a premiere.

- Wow.

It's the most important social event in New York,

Marc Jacobs fashion show, number one.

Everybody can see, it's everybody sitting,

and looking, and people feel strongly

that he knows something, you know, and he does.

He has a good sensibility.

It's sort of like an arena, you know,

like if the games begin,

everyone can see.

It's a fascinating sociological type situation.

And Marc is the top dog,

and doesn't care to be, but he is, you know.

("Canon in D" by Pachelbel, remix)

(crowd applauds)

- [Voiceover] But he takes it all in his stride,

without melodrama.

- I didn't do anything, I just did my job.

Hello ...Oh My god.

- Oh my God, famous people! - It was so crazy out there!

- Hey, how are you? - Congratulations, alright.

And you're in it.

- Wow.

(screams)

- I love you!

- You look so fucking good! - My girl!

I told you ...

(screams)

Sofia!

That's my friend Sofia, this is Kim.

- Hi - ... and Zoe.

- Hi Zoe.

Ah, she looks great.

- [Marc] Ladies and gentlemen, Victoria Beckam.

- [Photographer] The French people are jealous.

- No they're not, I love the French people.

Some of my best friends are French people, right Loïc?

(yawns)

This is insane.

(muffled traffic sounds)

So crazy.

I never really believe what people say, you know.

- Congratulations

(ominous instrumental music)

- Thanks

- How are you?

- Take a picture with him.

- I did

- I loved your collection,

it's a drastic, drastic contrast from last season.

It's amazing.

- You're amazing.

- Oh my God. - So many mistakes.

- There were so many mistakes.

I'm so upset.

- Wow, yeah, that first shoe.

- The first shoe, the first shoe and then the two dresses

that didn't come out.

- That's alright, you know what,

everybody was like, that's the fashion industry right there.

- No!

Another one's over, it's on to the next one.

On to the next.

- [Voiceover] When we do catch up with him

after his New York show, he's in pieces.

- I'm really feeling like very, very, very exhausted.

Very exhausted.

So ...

- [Voiceover] But he has neither the choice

nor the time, in just three weeks,

he must do another show, for Vuitton this time,

and start the idea machine pumping afresh.

But where do you find inspiration

when you're utterly drained.

All year around,

when Marc Jacobs isn't silently judging gloth,

he regenerates his creative strength,

running around the galleries, contemporary at fairs,

and auctions, building up his own art collection.

He greets the gallery owners, checks out what's on offer,

along with one of his best friends,

diamond dealer John Reinhold,

who introduced him to this milieu.

- Good? - Good.

- They're making a documentary.

- Oh, on you?

- Yeah, no, on you, we didn't tell you yet.

(laugh)

- Did you find good things here?

- I bought, yeah, a couple of nice things.

I bought a nice drawing of Ed Ruscha's,

and I bought a nice Richard Prince.

(classical music)

- [Voiceover] Yet, he chooses not to show his collection.

He remains very discreet on the subject.

He owns neither boat nor car.

He doesn't even own his own apartment.

His only possessions are his paintings and sculptures.

Starting out with portraits,

he then focused on contemporary American artists.

And now seems to be gradually leaning towards abstraction.

- Do you know very much about Picabia?

- A little bit, a little bit.

I bought a drawing, a Picabia drawing

from London a few years ago.

- [Voiceover] When he really wants a piece,

he has no qualms about besieging a gallery,

like the very prestigious

Larry Gagosian gallery in New York.

- [Interviewer] C'est Cezanne, oui?

- Cezanne yeah.

- [Interviewer] Cezanne again?

- Cezanne yeah, and Picasso,

and this is Bacon, Francis Bacon.

- [Interviewer] I love that you have a Francis Bacon

on the floor.

- Bacon there, Warhol, and that's Cy Twombly.

Marc's a very competitive collector.

I mean he he does his homework.

He knows when an artist is going to have a show.

He's very, very, he's very, in a nice way,

but he's quite aggressive, and you have to really

have that kind of passion and kind of

polite aggression, hopefully polite,

but you need the ... to make a collection.

Otherwise you're just buying stuff.

- If he goes to an auction himself,

together with me, which happened once in a awhile,

we would discuss the final price,

but then, when he was actually there,

and he would see the piece come up,

he would whisper to me,

"Oh we can go much higher than that."

That's even before they started bidding.

So, I would ask him to please sit on his hands,

so that he wouldn't be able to raise his paddle.

- Hey Jeff!

- [Voiceover] Jeff Koons, Rachel Feinstein, John Currin,

Elizabeth Peyton, he hob nobs with numerous artists

from the New York scene.

And when Californian artist Ed Ruscha

attended one of his shows,

a lifelong dream had come true.

- When I met Madonna, I was like, Hi, nice to meet you,

and I like her, I respect her, she's great,

but when I met Ed Ruscha, I couldn't speak,

I had, I was like, oh my God.

- [Voiceover] In the endless corridors of his Tokyo hotel,

we thought to ask him about this boundless admiration,

and his hang-ups as a craftsman in the face of artists.

- Oh, my door's open.

Come on in.

- [Interviewer] Yeah?

- Yeah, why not.

Oh, I think they're doing the housekeeping.

You can come in.

Look I have like a Japanese dining room,

I have this living room, beautiful bedroom,

gorgeous bathroom.

- [Interviewer] Fantastic.

- [Voiceover] They booked him into

one of the hotels' largest suites.

It seems his French employers put a premium on his comfort.

- Do you want to sit down?

- [Voiceover] But we didn't dare.

We weren't half as relaxed as the Japanese photographer

who sang with him in the elevator a couple of days earlier.

(sings in Japanese)

Yet, we did have a chat.

- A little intimidated because again,

I've always felt intimidated by the art world,

you know what I mean?

Like I thought other ...

Like again in the creative hierarchy,

the art world is like up here,

and fashion is like down there.

And it's actually Elizabeth who's made me

feel differently about that.

You know, she's always saying, you're so wrong.

And it's like, you know, so important, and so vital,

and, you know, what you do.

She's very encouraging that way,

because I'm always saying, it's, you know, like a job.

It's like ... because I see the life

of these artists sometimes, and the way they live,

and how they travel, and just think

it's such a beautiful, creative existence

that seems so sort of pure in some way, you know.

- [Voiceover] In New York,

in the heart of Greenwich Village,

we went to meet the famous Elizabeth Peyton,

the painter of an entire generation, Marc Jacobs' idol.

He'd spend his time leafing through catalogs of her work.

And in diamond dealer John Reinhold's bedroom,

next to millions of dollars of Warhol's Marilyn

were a couple of portraits of Marc Jacobs,

by Elizabeth Peyton.

She was moving into her new home,

the dog didn't bite anyone,

the glasses were still wrapped in newspaper.

It was an important meeting.

- [Interviewer] You're the one who got his complex away,

Because he felt so inferior artistically?

- That's just so hard to imagine knowing Marc,

because he's so creative,

and he's really so sophisticated.

But, I think when you're outside of art,

it can seem like it's some impenetrable world,

but he was really right there already,

with all his ideas and thoughts.

When he started collecting art, he knew what he wanted.

You know, he's very smart, really.

He just seems so in tune with culture,

and he's making culture,

like he's sort of remaking the world in his image

by sending off droves of people, girls down the street

in sequin ballet flats, and you know, purple corduroys.

I think that's so brilliant, and incredibly powerful too

about the kind of affect you can have on your world

through your will alone.

And that's basically what artists are doing,

sort of remaking a world within their work, right?

- [Voiceover] But his interest in art

has already found an outlet in his work.

Having asked creator Stephen Sprouse

to graffiti Vuitton handbags,

he's now asked Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami

to toy with Vuitton bags in 36 colors.

- [Interviewer] How did you get the idea to

call Murakami the first time?

- Because, I had seen his sculpture at an auction,

and I'd read some articles about Takashi,

and then there was a show at the Cartier Foundation,

and when I was at the show at the Cartier Foundation

I went to work the next day, or two days later,

and I asked Camille to try and find him,

to get in touch with him, so we sent him an email.

Just like that. - [Interviewer] So simple.

- Yeah, it's like really ...

You know I'm not very clever, I'm just like

oh call him up, see if he wants to chat.

(upbeat flute melody)

- [Voiceover] Takashi Murakami's celebrity has soared.

As he signs autographs and bags,

his market price has exploded,

and his ego oscillates between the utmost humility,

and megalomaniac euphoria.

- So this piece is not, you know, I have no point of view,

so, if you have a questions,

(laugh)

it's really hard for me.

Our contract is very interesting,

when it will be opened 200 hundred years later,

people really understanding what is that,

really beautiful contract, I believe.

It is my work, no, no, it is our collaboration.

Not you know (unclear) monogram, it is a concept.

You know if we can overhear,

people really impressive, maybe, yeah.

Very beautiful, not visually,

the concept is very beautiful, I believe.

- [Voiceover] The Vuitton Murakami collaboration

is a textbook case of marketing.

As it fuels the artist's career,

it adds a cachet of audacity and creativity to the brand,

and everybody gets richer in the process.

And it's about to happen again,

as Marc Jacobs picks up on a sculpture

by Swiss artist, Sylvie Fleury,

a Vuitton bag cast in silver coated bronze.

Suddenly it's come full circle on the runway,

and the front row seem to love it.

(playful percussive instrumental)

Artists are worthy when full in every sense,

and Vuitton, who has the means to afford its foibles,

has decided to a giant sized museum,

at a cost of 100 million Euros,

to concretize the spirit of artistic collaboration.

As for Marc Jacobs, he continues to seek out

confrontations with artists.

In Tokyo we'd seen him visit the venerable

Yayoi Kusama, renowned for her famous polka dots

with which she tirelessly adorns just about everything.

(inspirational electronic music)

- Aw!

That's so beautiful, look at that.

(laugh)

- [Voiceover] They both share a capacity

to oppose their vision onto a limitless world.

Suddenly they were exchanging a few home truths on creation.

Marc Jacobs home truth number one.

- I don't have any separation between life and work.

I guess it's the same thing.

- [Voiceover] Yayoi Kusama, home truth number two.

- Without my art, you know, my life is nothing.

- [Voiceover] Marc Jacobs, home truth number three.

- I don't know how to define success.

If I can continue to do what I love,

then I am successful.

- [Voiceover] And the great Yayoi Kusama,

principle number four.

- No surrender, no, you know, compassion,

just work very hard you know.

- We must.

- Yeah, we must you know.

- I promise, you too!

- Yeah, me too. - Don't stop.

- Yeah, don't stop.

(laugh)

- You keep going.

- [Voiceover] In the end, they didn't want to part.

We sensed that Yayoi Kusama's endless dots

would echo awhile in Marc Jacobs' mind.

(contemplative strings music)

- I met Yayoi Kusama.

- How are you?

- She's great, she's dotty as could be.

- [Voiceover] Back in Paris at Vuitton,

aren't these polka dots?

- [Marc] I mean I think they could be like a shock or

- [Voiceover] And when night falls,

it's time for a little relaxation.

Laying pastel leather dots on bag models

for hours on end.

Bag's whose genealogy can doubtless be traced back

to Yayoi Kusama's Tokyo polka dots,

to this old bottle top bag in the studio,

and perhaps even to a plate in the company kitchen

where Marc Jacobs dines every evening,

a plateful of macaroons.

Right this way, you macaroons.

("Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Tchaikovsky remix)

- [Woman 1] Please, may I taste one

of your protein bars.

- [Man] They're very nice.

- [Marc] Do you want one?

Do you and Pete want to split one?

Does anyone else, do you like one?

- [Man] Okay.

- [Woman 2] Is it nice?

- [Woman 1] Yeah

- Hey kids ...

- [Woman 1] It's quite nice really.

- I told you!

Protein is good for you.

- [Woman 1] They're off me teeth.

- [Voiceover] So Marc Jacobs' brain feeds

on fashion, art, music, and encounters.

On a more prosaic level, to set its wheels in motion,

and oil its neurotransmitters,

it thrives on a rare diet of proteins ...

- So good.

- [Voiceover] ...pins ...

(playful organ music)

...fingernails ...

And above all, nasty cigarettes.

He gave up drugs and alcohol, which had become a problem.

But he certainly hasn't lost his compulsive habits.

(cigarette lighters flip on)

But fortunately, specialists have studied his case.

And he's become a model of healthy nutrition.

- Okay, now, I drink, in case you're interested,

all you watchers out there, want to know

about healthy, nutrition, whatever ...

This is mangosteen, it's disgusting,

tastes like baby vomit.

It's a very rare fruit.

And this is, goji juice, it's also very rare, berry.

Very good for the digestion.

These are omega-3, and for digestion.

Very good for you.

This one, is VSL#3, the friendly bacteria.

It's acidophilus, which you find in yogurt.

Really good for you.

Mix that up with water.

Actually, that one tastes okay.

(stirs in cup)

Then, you get to eat your dinner.

- It's very filling.

- Oh, I forgot to tell you,

you get really constipated from eating these things.

(laughs)

- [Voiceover] Now that the macaroon layout

has been decided upon, we move on to the production stage.

- Quatre would be deal, three would be acceptable,

two would be ...

- Unacceptable.

- A disaster

Four is ideal.

Let's go for the ideal ... so ...

- [Voiceover] Marc Jacobs wants

four different macaroon bags in just five days.

That means stepping on it.

He has a habit of asking for everything in multiple colors,

thus, every pair of shorts, every jacket

exists in at least six different colors.

But all will not be shown,

it's a matter of having the choice

when styling and finalizing the silhouettes.

In New York, a 150 models, and multiple versions

were not used for the show.

There were scores of different bag models,

and as for the shoes ...

- [Interviewer] Tell me how many shoes

do you produce for the show?

- 500 - 600

("Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Tchaikovsky remix)

- This is shoe Heaven.

Shoe Heaven!

Shoe Heaven!

Shoe Heaven!

- [Voiceover] In this business, things tend to snowball.

When Parisian suppliers like the Giulio Gussans

come to present their wares, the Vuitton teams

do their utmost to stretch the order list

as long as it will go.

While the artisan will try to resist

to protect his own staff, already overburdened

with work for prestigious names such as Chanel,

or Balenciaga during the fashion show week.

- 115 pieces

- Can't we have 60.

(laugh)

(throat clearing)

- [Voiceover] 24 hours before the show, it's accessory time.

The bags, shoes, headbands and jewelry are brought together

and a game of musical chairs begins

to determine what goes with what.

("Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Tchaikovsky remix)

We're getting dangerously close to the show deadline.

(Scottish bagpipe music)

When in walks a prized guest,

one of the most influential women in the fashion world,

Chief Editor of American Vogue, Anna Wintour.

(dialogue obscured by music)

- Thank you for receiving me.

- Oh, you're welcome.

- Thank you for my bag.

- I'm just running to the men's room

so I'll be right back, okay Robert's right there,

if you wanna talk to him.

- Okay.

- [Voiceover] Her eagle eye scans the room,

and immediately spots the showstopping bag.

- This tote right here.

- Yeah, they're really funny.

It's leather.

- It's leather?

- It's leather, yeah, it's all leather woven.

Shoes, what dya think?

- [Voiceover] She gets her own, on the go, fashion show.

(energetic electronic music)

And she even makes a comment.

- Very pretty.

(opera music plays)

- [Voiceover] As soon as Anna Wintour has left,

finalizing of the accessories begins again

with a vengeance.

- These shoes, we have other options,

where they come in her size.

Could we try, can we see the gold metal one?

Let's make this looks rich enough, you know.

(speaks in French)

- [Voiceover] This was the moment we dreaded.

One we'd already experienced in New York.

Pushed to our physical limits.

There we saw how these last 12 hours

were a race against the clock,

compromise, and possibility.

- Yeah, the labels in the wrong side.

- [Voiceover] The clothes were still mutating.

Even the T-shirts were back to front.

- Turn it around again.

Has it been cut yet?

- Yes

Is it possible to cut it again,

in the pearlescent way, so the (unclear fashion term).

- Okay, stick it out the front?

- Stick it in the toaster.

- Okay.

- We may have to make an ivory version,

but I think we need more, like as much of this stuff.

It would be great to have this one and a black one

out her, but if they could be cut in the different patterns.

- Okay, yeah.

- Oh, is the white coat ready?

What I'd like to do is add like a couple more layers.

- Okay

- Oh, Joseph, and on the pants,

there's spots on one side.

- I think, what we can do, is keep the big motif here

and maybe just do a partial motif,

like a really small one here, at least to give some weight.

It's never going to be the same.

- Yeah

- Are you Okay?

- Yeah

- Are you crying.

So maybe, you know, but just a tiny bit in the front

and then maybe weighing the back a little bit.

- [Voiceover] The machine was racing.

Ideas from all sides, workshops gone wild,

Marc Jacobs in meltdown.

(sirens sound)

(chaotic electronic music)

(calming piano music)

(chaotic electronic music)

(sewing machine hums)

- I'm gonna take your purse.

- [Voiceover] In Paris, at Vuitton,

the pressure is even more intense.

Everyone is in overdrive.

At 4 am, bags are still arriving in dribs and drabs.

(speaking French)

All but one.

Four people have been working relentlessly

for three days on the extravagant Cubist bag.

The compilation of several Vuitton bags in one.

The multiple layers of leather have broken needles,

even machines.

They completed it by hand.

And here it is, the impossible bag is finished.

(tense orchestral music)

(door creaks)

It's 6:30 in the morning,

but will this bag win the approval of a Marc Jacobs

who has never seen it?

(suspenseful orchestral music)

- Wow

Look at that!

That is so insane.

That is sick in the head.

- [Man] (speaks in French)

- [Woman] No! - (speaks in French)

That is like insanity personified.

- Its so brilliant.

- That is so good.

- [Voiceover] 28 signed examples would be

produced and sold around the world.

Price, 35,000 Euros.

- That, photographed against nude legs,

is going to be fantastic, no?

- Yeah.

- That's insane, isn't it?

You remember when we were making that

just the other day.

It's so nuts.

(soulful chanting music)

- [Voiceover] While some merely

take a break during this white night,

Marc Jacobs grabs a bare 45 minutes sleep.

(soulful chanting music)

- [Woman] How you do feel?

- Much better.

(cough)

- 32

(laugh)

- Wow, I love that so much.

- [Voiceover] It's nine in the morning.

The show is at three.

And most of this dress is still just pinned together.

Yet, nobody seems ruffled.

And just as well, because, even its final shape

is still pretty hazy.

- Um, the other thing is Jane,

you could put like a little tie, a canvas tie,

you can attach something here and here, like a tie.

Do you have a tape?

Jolissima

(laugh)

- [Man] I think she should.

I think she should.

(down tempo piano music)

(Polaroid camera noises)

- Aw, that's yours.

- It's finished, she's the last one?

- Yeah

(cheers)

- Let's, let me get photographed, and... kidding.

- [Voiceover] Noon, the accessories are done.

But in the workshops, the race goes on.

Nervous tension turning to hilarity.

(laughs)

(parade music plays)

- [Voiceover] In the Petit Palais,

the models are getting ready.

If the Marc Jacobs show is one of the highlights

of the New York fashion calendar,

the Louis Vuitton show comes at the close

of the Paris Fashion Week.

Meaning the most sought after models

will have cat-walked an average of 90 shows,

with hairdos and makeup to beat the band.

Given the toll it's taken on their hair and skin,

some have become almost allergic to cosmetics.

12:48 and counting.

Some of the linings are pretty shaky.

And even worse, several dresses, are looking flakey.

Accident prevention rules.

Fabrizio Viti trashes the soles of his shoes

to make them more adherent and to avoid a fall.

- It's very psychological as well,

if a shoe is not scratched, we think the girl gonna fall.

- [Interviewer] And has uh,

a girl falling at the Vuitton show?

- No

- [Interviewer] Never happens?

- Sorry but, I have to touch, you know.

- [Voiceover] They think of everything.

Each model has her own emergency bag containing

a bale, safety pins, a g-string, tampons,

a shoe horn, a cutter, adhesive tape,

and a roll on fluff remover.

- [Voiceover] Not quite finished when you have to thread

a needle after a sleepless night.

- [Voiceover] Almost 2 pm.

As soon as each garment is finished,

it's immediately couriered to the show.

(motorcycle hums)

(tense orchestral music)

Meanwhile rehearsals have already started.

Marc Jacobs discovers the giant screens,

except the video isn't the one he was expecting.

- There's a storm.

- [Camille] We tried with that ...

- What happened?

Why did you do that Camille?

(dialogue obscured by music)

- [Voiceover] In the workshops they're still at it.

2:28 pm, two garments are still resisting.

One, a safari jacket with a liberty layered bag,

was such a headache that the reluctant buttons

remain to be fitted.

- [Voiceover] And, a lampion sleeved jacket

with a back lacing, straight out of Hell.

- [Voiceover] Yet, in 30 minutes,

it must all be on the catwalk.

(mid tempo electronic music)

(French speaker on PA)

(speaking French)

- Please don't move around too much

when we've looked at you okay?

Stay still!

And nope, this isn't on your shoulder is it Sveta?

Just hold it down please, for now.

- Yeah, I'm coming over with that one on the bike.

Okay, see you, bye bye.

(tense orchestral music)

- [Voiceover] The last jacket is ready,

but a new race begins.

In New York, two dresses never made it to the show.

(energetic electronic music)

We're in the center of Paris, a Pont Neuf.

The show is at the Petit Palais on the Champs-Élysées,

about 15 minutes in traffic jams from here.

A show that starts in one minutes time.

And the dispatch rider hasn't arrived.

But Janet Jackson is already sitting in the front row.

(crowd noises, music, and cameras)

- Eh, eh, eh!

(motorcycle revs)

- [Woman 1] Lapel.

- [Woman 2] They're out, through there, doing something.

(footsteps)

- [Voiceover] The missing jackets have arrived,

but of course, they have to be touched up again,

one last time.

(speaking French)

Marc Jacobs checks the lacing on the lampion sleeved jacket.

The mob of photographers is growing impatient.

- Excuse me, excuse me.

(chandeliers twinkling)

- [Voiceover] But now, the chandeliers are being raised.

The Vuitton show is about to begin.

(contemplative electronic music)

- [Marc] You saw us working on the shoes,

and the bags, and the clothes,

and I think each thing influences the other.

You know, and you start to do a bag

that's like kind of more elaborate,

then you go back and look at a piece of clothing

that you thought was pushed far enough,

but then you realize maybe it should be pushed further,

and visa versa, it's like such a long process

between choosing fabrics, developing prints,

working on the embroideries.

I mean, you saw the team, everyone has been

busy working on all of the stuff for months.

It just comes together at a certain point,

and the momentum sort of builds, and the time gets shorter

so you have to make decisions, you know,

and then, you're left with what is the show.

(playful drum music)

Is it so horrible that it's good?

(uptempo piano music)

So it would be nice to see all these things together

to see that we really can combine.

So insane.

That is sick in the head.

(Scottish bagpipes music)

So we took two fabrics sometimes,

and had them woven together, and then we bleached them out.

Yeah, tragic.

(classical music remixed)

As screwy as it can be, the better.

(classical music)

(scissor cuts)

(steam hisses)

(contemplative piano music)

(energetic percussive music)

(chandeliers twinkling)

- Um, nice to meet you.

- Hi gorgeous.

Hi Dieter

- Fantastic

Fantastic

Incredible

Ah, really

Yes

It's fantastic

There's so many bags!

This is incredible, but the bags, so many ideas.

Effects, fantastic.

- Good

- You aren't regretted.

- No, you aren't.

(contemplative electronic music)