Marc Jacobs: The Cult of Corporate Cool, New York

Who said that big brands can't retain the DNA of what made them interesting in the first place?

This past week in New York, I visited the Marc by Marc Jacobs store on Bleecker Street, the little brother store to Marc Jacobs mainline collection. Both businesses are owned by LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods conglomerate. Marc Jacobs is also the Creative Director for Louis Vuitton, the company's largest fashion brand. So, you might expect that the company feels corporate and over marketed.

Thus, it was a pleasant surprise to walk into the Marc store and see a huge yellow chicken mascot sitting in the store window. A (suitably cool) photographer named Thom was taking photos of customers posing with the chicken and then posting them in the store windows for all to see.  As Thom explained, the tradition of taking these kinds of photos goes back years in Marc Jacobs history to Marc's infamous Christmas parties, where extravagantly dressed up patrons would pose together as momentos of the party. You can check out some of these photos on Thom's website.

By translating this fun experience into the store, customers are engaging with the Marc Jacobs brand in such a cool way, that is not staged or fake, but an authentic part of Marc's lifestyle and appeal. Some more photos of the instore antics are below.