Marc Jacobs on skincare, marriage and Pride month

Image credits: Getty Images/Peter Lindberg/Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs has been busy. In the last two months, he has released a book (, with Grace Coddington, published by Phaidon, unveiled a new fashion line (The Marc Jacobs), and is now expanding into skincare, with only one product: Youthquake Hydra-Full Retexturizing Gel Crème. The moisturiser made its unofficial debut in style last month, on none other than the face of Lady Gaga at the Met Gala.

Jacobs (above) also got married in April, to his long-term boyfriend Char Defrancesco, in a fairy-tale fashion wedding in New York City. As he sits down with , he’s still got that newly-wed glow. “I love being married. I love saying ‘my husband’ or ‘my husband and I’, in that Queen Mother sort of way,” says Jacobs. “Married life has been great. It gives me a sense of security and helps me to define what commitment means for me, and that’s been a beautiful thing.”

The glow could have something to do with his latest venture, too, the brand’s first foray into skincare. After nearly four decades working in the fashion industry, and almost six years on from his makeup line launch, Jacobs’s approach to creating a new product remains the same: strict authenticity. “Skincare’s been in discussion for many years,” Jacobs explains. “In terms of planning out how we saw Marc Jacobs Beauty [evolving]… It was probably in the second meeting we had, we said that someday, we will include skincare.”

His hero product is a fruity, multi-tasking cream (above) that aims to rejuvenate skin – with enzymatic pineapple extract to stimulate cell renewal, antioxidant-rich starfruit and dragon fruit. “We talked about the spirit of what skincare for Marc Jacobs would mean – that I wasn’t a dermatologist and this wasn’t a science lab,” Jacobs says. “This is just me talking about things I understand, like the refreshing, hydrating qualities of coconut or pineapple!”

Starting with a single product is something of a signature move for Jacobs – whether in fashion or skincare, he’s always been one to foresee upcoming trends. Youthquake is a case in point: reflecting the wider mood in the beauty industry, which is starting to dial down excess, reduce multiple skincare steps and adopt a more simple, efficient and sustainable approach.

This month also sees the debut of Jacobs’s Enamored (With Pride) Lip Lacquer collection; designed to coincide with Pride month, with 10 per cent of the retail price of sales between June 6 to July 10 donated to Sage, an organisation that provides support to older LGBTQ+ people. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, widely considered to be the birth of the Pride movement and a watershed moment for LGBTQ+ rights. It’s a movement that Jacobs says inspires the real heart and soul of what he does: “Pride, it’s not fitting in – it’s belonging; that’s to quote Brené Brown. You accept me for who I am, how I am, what I am, who I love.”

This sense of freedom resonates in everything Jacobs touches, because for him there are no rules. “I wouldn’t want anyone making my aesthetic choices for me, or any of my choices for me. The rule is to express oneself and to do it for yourself, first and foremost. And enjoy it.”

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