Marc Jacobs Fall 1997 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Editor’s Note: This year was a big one for Marc Jacobs, who marked his 40th anniversary in fashion and became the first guest editor of American Vogue. We’re closing out 2024 with an archival look back at the designer’s career. This fall 1997 collection, presented in SoHo on April 8, 1997, has been digitized as part of Vogue Runway’s ongoing efforts to document the history of fashion shows.

At first glance, Marc Jacobs’s fall 1997 collection looked restrained, even Calvinistic (as in Calvin Klein), but if these clothes were minimal in design they were made of exclusive materials. Waffle knits were made of cashmere, and streetwise hoodies became plush sweaters for SoHo yoga moms. In a collections report Vogue wrote: “Shock of the new: Marc Jacobs chopped his hair. It’s a new look to go with his clean, no-frills collection of baggy gray flannel pants, orange cashmere sweatshirts, and spiky five-inch heels (trend-setter alert: this is the new downtown uniform).” Think of those stilettos as exclamation marks; these clothes looked quiet but they had oomph as well.