While many brands clutch their pearls at the thought of “bootlegging,” Marc Jacobs embraces it wholeheartedly. In fact, he’s tapped Ava Nurui, digital editor at Helmut Lang and avid fashion disruptor, to create four new hoodies.
Courtesy of Marc Jacobs
This is, actually, Nurui and Jacob’s second time crossing paths. Back in 2017, Nurui and Jacobs released a “Marc Jacobes” sweatshirt that riffed on the brand’s logo. It sold out. Now, ironically, some of those hoodies are being re-sold on eBay, with jacked up prices to boot. If the re-selling of “must-cop” items is a measure of success, then Marc Jacobs has won the game and shut it down entirely. And this second line of sweatshirts, which is available starting November 1, will no doubt surpass the last one.
For her part, Nurui enlisted three friends to help create the designs for this special collaboration. “I wanted to work with friends and people whose work I feel is disruptive and unique,” she tells Vogue of the group effort. Friends David Owen and Angela Hill of Idea Books, Julian Consuegra of Stray Rats, and Better owner Avi Gold were all part of the Ava Nurui x Marc Jacobs collection.
Courtesy of Marc Jacobs
The collection is rife with obscure references, with the most recognizable being “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Marc Jacobs,” playing off of the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! logo. Nurui is firm in her stance on “bootlegging” as a form of appreciation rather than appropriation, saying, “I think this is the only way we can move forward and evolve creatively . . . by building off and referencing existing works without being condemned.” Preach.
The four hoodies retail for $195 each and are now available at Marc Jacobs.