With a warehouse venue and a set that featured speakers stacked high and a neon centrepiece, fashion editors walking into the Marc By Marc Jacobs New York fashion week show on Tuesday afternoon understandably thought they were in for a hedonistic clubbing collection. And those suspicions seemed well-founded when the soundtrack started with ear-bleeding drum'n'bass. But, as the collection was revealed, it became clear that British creative directors Luella Bartley and Katie Hillier aren't that easily second-guessed. In place at Marc Jacobs' second line since 2013, their sophomore catwalk outing showed their ideas are rich and various. Even the soundtrack reflected this – the dancefloor-worthy tunes were contrasted with snatches of Strauss.
The first model out here wore a cropped wide shirt with a plastic polka dot pencil skirt and shiny PVC tights. A cropped boxy top and fitted skirt or trouser was the dominant silhouette, worn with the stompy, "don't mess" kind of attitude so admired in the duo's first collection for Marc by Marc Jacobs. Some of the models recalled 90's cartoon Tank Girl with hair in twisted plaits and wide-legged cropped pants dubbed "ninja trousers" in the show notes.
Less poppy than the first collection – which included lots of print and Motorcross and manga references - this amped up the bona fide fashion namechecks. Distressed T-shirt dresses and jackets with harness details recalled Vivienne Westwood's early work, while slogan dresses reading "New World System" were a nice homage to Katherine Hamnett's famous slogan T-shirts while slip dresses in industrial brights showed the influence of Helmut Lang. A section of the show towards the end, where the frills of a prom dress were patched together with less special occasion fabrics like sweatshirting, recalled Japanese designers like Junya Watanabe, who pioneered such hybrids on the catwalk. They were also a knowing nod to Bartley's own work for her brand Luella – where she quickly established the prom dress as her trademark shape during the noughties. With these ones ripped up and destroyed, and made into something else entirely, they perhaps semaphored a new era.
Taken as a whole, the collection was a wonderfully confident cocktail of ideas – not so easily digestible as their debut, but maybe stronger for that. Backstage after the show, Bartley and Hillier – in matching white shirts – were quick to draw the connections of seemingly unconnected inspirations together, all as part of a particular mood. "It was hardcore idealism," said Bartley. "It's a feeling that you find in rave culture but it's anything that's a bit anti-establishment, with a do it yourself ethos. It's strong, bold and euphoric."
There is an optimistic mood around this brand at the moment – it's been rejuvenated by the duo's appointment and feels relevant again, ripe for a new intake of customers after clothes that are cool but clever too. Responsible for 70% of the entire Marc Jacobs business, that can only be a good thing. For a second season, Jacobs himself was sat proudly front row and greeted his design duo with a warm hug as they came out for their bow. The music only helped things along. "It's been so much fun putting the set together," said Bartley. "We've been dancing to that for hours." A Marc by Marc Jacobs rave might be on the cards yet.
