Marc Jacobs, whose Fall 2017 collection is heavily inspired by hip-hop and the sharp-meets-casual style of the '90s, has reflected on the controversy surrounding his use of dreadlocks during New York Fashion Week last September. In a new interview with InStyle, Jacobs revealed what he learned from the backlash and how he envisions equality in fashion.
Following the initial controversy last year, Jacobs directly responded on Instagram with comments that ultimately extended the controversy. Jacobs, in response to "all who cry cultural appropriation or whatever nonsense about any race or skin color wearing their hair in any particular style or manner," said at the time that it was "funny" that the same criticism wasn't directed toward "women of color for straightening their hair." Those comments did not go over well.
"What I learned from that whole thing, what caused me to pause after it died down a little bit, was that maybe I just don't have the language for this, or maybe I've been insensitive because I operate so inside my little bubble of fashion," Jacobs, who used the dreadlocks in his Spring 2017 show as a nod to director Lana Wachowski, said in Monday's InStyle profile.
Later in the interview, Jacobs shared some broader thoughts on how he views today's climate. "There seems to be this strange feeling that you can be whoever you want as long as it's 'yours,' which seems very counter to the idea of cross-pollination, acceptance, and equality," Jacobs said. "Now you can’t go to a music festival with feathers in your hair because it's cultural appropriation."
Read the full profile, which also includes contributions from Hype Williams and LL Cool J, right here.
Despite recent rumors that Jacobs was close to leaving his company and calling off his scheduled Spring 2018 show at NYFW next month, he confirmed to Women's Wear Daily last week that any such talk was untrue. "We're all hard at work on the collection and the preparation for our show in September," he said.
