At Marc Jacobs, Paper Dolls Come to Life

Although the official New York Fashion Week schedule didn’t start until September 8, the spring 2024 season kicked off early with designers Rachel Comey and Batsheva Hay presenting their latest collections on September 6. The following evening, September 7, Coach took over the New York Public Library for a show that doubled as a celebration of Stuart Vevers’s 10th anniversary as the brand’s creative director. Over 70 designers are set to follow over six busy days while editors traverse the city amid a late-summer heat wave.

Day one began with a special showing of Tiffany & Co.’s Blue Book Fall 2023: Out of the Blue High Jewelry collection paired with Holly Golightly-inspired gowns from Givenchy haute couture. It was followed by two of the season’s buzziest shows: Peter Do’s debut as the creative director of Helmut Lang and Ralph Lauren’s first New York Fashion Week show since 2019. Also making their returns were Jonathan Cohen and 3.1 Phillip Lim, who had not held live shows since February 2020 and September 2019, respectively. The usual New York fixtures were all on the agenda, including veterans Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, and Proenza Schouler along with a handful of fashion week newcomers not to be missed. Closing out the entire affair was Luar’s Raul Lopez who held the season’s coveted grand finale spot for the second year in a row.

But Marc Jacobs—who used to close every New York Fashion Week from his legendary final show at the Park Avenue Armory—threw yet another curveball (albeit an incredibly chic one) on February 2, 2024. Just one week before the NYFW fall 2024 shows were due to begin on the official schedule, he held a runway show that celebrated his brand’s 40th year in the business. Here, we’re tracking the best looks from them all.