Marc Jacobs on his Rehab/Relapse Stint
Marc Jacobs put it best: go with the flow. While accepting the Savannah College of Art and Design’s André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award, the designer explained why he cancelled his upcoming Milan men’s show. “We were going to do the show this season,” he commented, “but I think we’re going to go with our first show in Milan as a fall show.” The reason? “Originally, we had thought to do a spring show, but maybe the fall show is more demonstrative in terms of fashion,” Jacobs offered. “I think certainly a fall show is more intelligent to do as your first show.”
At the time, a spokesperson for Jacobs cited the inability to find the right venue as the chief reason for pulling back. “Part of it was maybe the venue, but I know I was on the fence. I was willing to go along with the idea of the spring show being our first show—but I do think from a design point of view, a fall show is probably more exciting,” he concluded.
Jacobs also spoke candidly about his recent stint in rehab. “I’d had a relapse and started to drink a bit, and got involved in going to parties and doing things I shouldn’t be doing,” he admitted. “But it wasn’t so awful. That’s what rehab is about for me. It was a chance for me to do some meditation, but also talk about where I was at. I would never have been able to do that with such an intensity if I had done it as part of my everyday life while working. So to take a break and remove myself from a work environment and not have to travel within a five-week period of time, to stay in one place and to focus on myself and think about things—where I’m at, how I’d like to be, and how I am—is a really good thing. Other than these few instances of getting drunk—which is not a path I ever want to go down again, because it just takes me away from where I am—I’m taking life as it is. Other than smoking cigarettes, I’ve got no real bad vices left.”
At the time, a spokesperson for Jacobs cited the inability to find the right venue as the chief reason for pulling back. “Part of it was maybe the venue, but I know I was on the fence. I was willing to go along with the idea of the spring show being our first show—but I do think from a design point of view, a fall show is probably more exciting,” he concluded.
Jacobs also spoke candidly about his recent stint in rehab. “I’d had a relapse and started to drink a bit, and got involved in going to parties and doing things I shouldn’t be doing,” he admitted. “But it wasn’t so awful. That’s what rehab is about for me. It was a chance for me to do some meditation, but also talk about where I was at. I would never have been able to do that with such an intensity if I had done it as part of my everyday life while working. So to take a break and remove myself from a work environment and not have to travel within a five-week period of time, to stay in one place and to focus on myself and think about things—where I’m at, how I’d like to be, and how I am—is a really good thing. Other than these few instances of getting drunk—which is not a path I ever want to go down again, because it just takes me away from where I am—I’m taking life as it is. Other than smoking cigarettes, I’ve got no real bad vices left.”
