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ONE
speedy trip to
Manila after the Holy Week, Robert Duffy, the force behind
fashion’s $5-billion man, Marc Jacobs, offered a glimpse
into their power partnership. The soon-to-be legendary
duo is likened to the viable and lucrative pairings of
Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge, and Valentino and
Giancarlo Giammetti: the right-hand man and the creative
visionary. Fortune.com succinctly sums up Duffy’s
invaluable role to Marc Jacobs the company, as well as
the studio director for Louis Vuitton. “Duffy’s talents
lie in multiple areas—as a retailer, he has even moved
more merchandise per square foot than Steve Jobs; as a
corporate infighter, he has proved adept at protecting
his partner’s vision; and as a facilitator, he has made
sure that every element of the corporate culture at
their company is an extension of Jacobs.”
In 1984,
when he was then a 30-year-old sales manager for Reuben
Thomas, a Seventh Avenue clothier, Duffy saw Jacobs’s
graduation collection at
Manhattan’s
Parsons School of Design. Soon after, the two connected
and, together, they started the Marc Jacobs label with
the backing of a Japanese company.
THE ANGEL WEARS MARC
JACOBS.
Robert Duffy (left), the force behind fashion’s
$5-billion man, together with Anton Huang, the executive
vice president of Stores Specialist Inc., which
distributes Marc Jacobs around these parts.
Their
journey into the world of fashion continued when they
worked for Perry Ellis in 1989, got fired for their
controversial “grunge” collection in spring ’93; bounced
back big time when they were hired as studio director
and artistic director for Louis Vuitton, whose parent
company also acquired a stake on Marc Jacobs the
company, giving it a financial lifeline.
“Marc
Jacobs is not Marc Jacobs. Marc Jacobs is Marc Jacobs
and Robert Duffy, or Robert Duffy and Marc Jacobs,
whichever way you want to put it,” the most influential
American designer tells cnnmoney.com via Fortune
magazine.
But how
do they keep Marc Jacobs and
LV
distinct from each other? “MJ is personal to Marc and
myself. It’s friendly, more naïve, not in your face,”
Duffy says in his suite at the Peninsula Manila, where
the quick interview was set. “With
LV, you know that the woman is powerful, a vice goddess. The
Marc Jacobs woman is more like Sofia Coppola—girly.”
SCENES FROM A COLLECTION.
The
Spring 2008 collection of Marc by Marc Jacobs
“[Robert
is] not just the financial person. Robert is also a
creative person who understands the aesthetics and
creative choices the design team and I make,” Jacobs
tells Fortune. “He’s interested and curious and
passionate and adamantly behind me. Even if he doesn’t
like something, he understands why we’ve come to a
certain conclusion, and Robert will fight with whoever
he needs to fight with to get things done so that
my—our—vision will come off in the end.”
Duffy
visited
Manila to oversee the construction of the Marc by Marc Jacobs
store, the company’s more affordable line, at the swank
Greenbelt 5, as well as check on the Marc Jacobs and
LV stores at
Greenbelt 4. He expressed optimism over the business
prospects of the labels in the country. Just for
enlightenment on the difference between the best-selling
brands: a Marc Jacobs thermal sweater in cashmere costs
$600; the Marc by Marc Jacobs version in wool will sell
for $160.
However,
the Marc Jacobs Collection store only sells shoes,
handbags, small leathergoods, eyewear and fragrances.
The Marc by Marc Jacobs store carries men’s and women’s
RTW and handbags, men’s and women’s small leathergoods,
eyewear and women’s shoes.
“We have
a good partner,” Duffy says, pointing to Anton Huang,
executive vice president of Stores Specialist Inc.,
which distributes the Marc Jacobs merchandise locally.
“It fits the climate and the small built of [most
Filipino women], just like Sofia.”
The
filmmaker-daughter of Francis Ford Coppola is the muse
and personal friend of the designer. Of course, he is
also known to be drawn to what he calls his “fallen
angels,” women whose transgressions have been reported
endlessly in the tabloids—Winona Ryder, Kate Moss, Li’l
Kim and Naomi Campbell.
Is Duffy
also attracted to fallen angels? “I’m a collector of
them,” he quips. “They are talented people who sometimes
couldn’t cope.”
 Marc
Jacobs, the most famous fallen angel of all, is
fashion’s most provocative and captivating designer; he
is also the most problematic. “If it weren’t for Robert,
I’m sure I’d be dead by now,” the designer tells
Fortune.com, disclosing his well-documented battles with
substance abuse and how Duffy, his angel, has saved him
twice.
Jacobs
has revealed that his problems arise from insecurity and
sensitivity. “The thing is, I do base a lot of my
self-worth on the opinion of other people. I’m not only
what I do for a living, but it is a huge part of my
life, so the opinion of others, whether critics,
customers or friends, does really affect me, and that is
a huge breeding ground for insecurity,” he reveals to
Out magazine.
So I
asked Duffy, since Jacobs considers him his soul mate,
what his opinion is of his long-time friend. “I have
respect for his talent. He is a smart person, funny and
humble—he’s every one of those things,” he readily
replies. “It was weird,” he remembers of their initial
encounter and immediate connection. “There was instant
respect, trust and unconditional love for each other.”
But, he quickly disclaims, “we are not romantically
involved.” Jacobs is currently dating Jason Preston,
described as a former rent boy.
Duffy
says that he and Jacobs rarely argue on professional
matters, but “personally, we have clashes, mainly about
his drugs.” In 1999, when Jacobs was spiraling downward,
Vogue editor Anna Wintour and his supermodel-bestfriend
Naomi Campbell pleaded to Duffy to intervene. Jacobs was
saved. And again, early last year, Duffy had to tell
Jacobs he will quit if the designer did not enter rehab.
“If the
company dies, I’ll live,” Duffy said then. “If Marc
dies, I don’t know what I would do. He means so much
more to me than any company.”
How does
he keep Jacobs sober? “I threaten him,” he says without
flinching but with a hint of an indulgent smile. “I tell
him, ‘If you’re gonna kill yourself, I’m gonna kill you
first!’ He remains sober because he loves me. He knows
it will hurt me. I worry about him.”
The soul
mates that they are, their bond remains steadfast and
unbending. “For 25 years, people have come between us.
But we are fiercely loyal and protective of each other.
They have to take us both or none,” says Duffy, turning
wistful. “It is the same in reverse. I am not just
Marc’s savior. He saves me, too.” From what? “He saves
me from myself from behaving recklessly.”
For
fashion’s sake, let’s hope these two remain friends.
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