Fearless Jacobs Gets Rapturous Reception

A good Marc Jacobs show has the unfortunate side-effect of making the rest of New York fashion week look utterly bloodless. Last night, after three days of designer musings on the theme of expensive-looking shift dresses that show off your bony clavicles, Jacobs had the audience on the edge of their seats.

Ugly Betty meets Little House on the Prairie would be the flip description of this collection. But there was much more to it than that: metallic stripe kente-style African fabrics and Northern Exposure red and white plaid; canape-sized hats and chunky espadrille boots; a strong, feminine silhouette that was part Yves Saint Laurent, part Eliza Doolittle.

Early in his career Jacobs designed his famous grunge collection for Perry Ellis, and was immediately fired. That experience, and his subsequent comeback, has given him a fearlessness which, when he is on form, energizes his catwalk in a way none of his American peers can rival.

His physical transformation has been almost chilling. The overweight, spectacle-wearing geek who used to shuffle on to the catwalk in an old sweatshirt, hiding behind mousy lank hair, has been replaced by a gym-honed, diamond-studded, caramel-tanned, orthodontically perfect hunk. Last night's catwalk was laid out as a hall of mirrors: backstage after the show, he said these represented "the joy of vanity". Judging from the rapturous reception of this show, it looks like he might be on to something there.