IN THE BEGINNING THERE
WERE THREE MISFIT GENIUSES...
A jubilant Marc Jacobs celebrates his second runway show for Sketchbook in April 1985. The New York Times lauds his designs as whimsical and infused with a childlike grace; by October, Sketchbook is shuttered and Marc is out of a job. George Chinsee/Cond Nast
Lee Alexander McQueen stayed on the dole as long as he could, and was often photographed with his face wrapped in cling film so the government wouldnt catch onbut he also hated the way he looked, and eventually got plastic surgery. Stephen Callaghan/Rex USA
The unlikeliest supermodel since Twiggy: in October 1993, a nonchalant nineteen-year-old Kate Moss makes the rounds during Fashion Week in Milan, drinking, chain-smoking, and casually dispensing her idiosyncratic glamour. Gamblin/Paris Match/Getty Images
Before he ever knew Kate Moss, and before Kate ever knew Johnny Depp, Marc Jacobs lounges and smokes at the April 1990 after-party for Depps film Cry-Baby . Ron Galella/Getty Images
In 1990, two years in as the head designer at legendary American sportswear label Perry Ellisand the youngest ever honored with the Council of Fashion Designers of Americas award for New Fashion TalentMarc Jacobs poses with a dotty friend at home. George Chinsee/Cond Nast
Just two years away from creating the collection that revolutionized fashion, Marc, here with a Perry Ellis model in 1990, struggles to inject youth and verve into an ailing house. Thomas Iannaccone/ Cond Nast
Kate and Marc, seen here in 1998, began the decade as two fashion-world misfits, bound by deep insecurity, troubled childhoods, and a hard-core love of the party. Steve Wood/Rex USA
Marc, with his muse and sometime-model Sofia Coppola, herself a standard-bearer of a new kind of beauty, at a Louis Vuitton event in 1999. Rex USA
Cool, casual, and thoroughly unpretentious: Marc, here in his Perry Ellis studio in 1991, presented himself as a new kind of American designer in stark counterpoint to Bill Blass, Donna Karan, and the aging establishment. David Turner/Cond Nast Publications
Marc decides to yield to commercialism and in 1996 presents the counterpoint to grunge: his so-called glam collection, which intrigued execs at Louis Vuitton. Kate Moss loved this gold gown so much she ran around town in it after the show. Robert Mitra/Cond Nast
Marc backstage with models at his infamous 1992 grunge collection, which hes called his favorite of all time. It was a critical and commercial disaster and got him fired from Perry Ellis; today, its considered the most influential American collection of the 1990s. Kyle Ericksen / Cond Nast
Humbled by his first-ever critical drubbing and unsure of his future, a somber Marc refuses to capitulate, his white sneakers a small note of rebellion. Stephen Sullivan/ Cond Nast
Frustrated with Vuitton execs, Marc decides to follow his own impulses and hires Stephen Sprouse, a longtime hero, to design a graffiti-inspired logo for handbags. The Sprouse collaboration was an unprecedented success for Vuitton, and the embrace of street culture by luxury conglomerates was complete. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Hired to reinvent the French luxury house Louis Vuitton in 1997, Marc spent nearly a year fighting with executives over the direction of the brand. When he finally showed in 1998, he knew his first collection had failed to impress. Pierre Verdy/Getty Images
Wrung out from struggles with drugs and alcohol, a post-rehab Marc Jacobs stops caring: he gains weight, lets his hair go greasy and long, and starts smoking up to two packs a day. George Chinsee/Cond Nast
The shot that changed fashion forever: a teenage Kate Moss on the cover of the 1990 issue of UK style bible The Face , shot by her mentor Corinne Day. This image wound up on the walls at Marc Jacobs and Calvin Klein, and went on to demolish prevailing standards of beauty.
Quickly adopted by the supermodels she would soon displace: Kate with Linda Evangelista and a partied-out Naomi Campbell in 1993. David Mcgough/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
A coquettish Kate backstage with boyfriend and photographer Mario Sorrenti at Paris Fashion Week in 1991. David Turnley/Corbis
A supermodel for the street: Kate, in a shapeless black skirt, denim jacket, and her beloved Adidas, shot in Paris in 1993. Geoff Wilkinson/Rex USA
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