The Internet is aglow with posts obsessing over Marc Jacobs’s Spring/Summer 2025 ready-to-wear collection, which he presented earlier this week at the New York Public Library. Writing in the show notes about the collection, dubbed “Courage,” Jacobs explains, “With precious freedom, we dream and imagine without limitation.” The models — made up like dolls, with black beauty marks and red circles on their cheeks and lips — clomped down the runway in whimsical platform shoes fit for elfin feet. The garments, with their balloon-like forms and outsize proportions, quickly drew comparisons to the work of visionary Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo.
Harper’s Bazaar and Business of Fashion are just two of the publications that noted the resemblance, with BOF pointing in particular to similarities with the Comme des Garçons Spring/Summer 1997 collection. Pieces in the 1997 show, often called “lumps and bumps,” were not just not formfitting; they were form redefining. Cases in point: this asymmetrical black dress and creations using organza to enhance their textural quality.
The new Jacobs collection seems to reference ’90s work by other designers, too. The subversion of silhouettes, for instance, feels linked to Issey Miyake’s designs, like this puff sleeve top and petal skirt. The light-hearted cartoonish quality, meanwhile, calls to mind Moschino. Even so, the attitude celebrated in “Courage” is distinctly Marc Jacobs.
