Marc Jacobs

One thing I look forward to when flipping through my monthly fashion magazines are Marc Jacobs' ads. Anyone who has ever come across one knows that they're usually very strange and half the time, they don't even feature Marc Jacobs' clothes or products. That's because Marc Jacobs is not just selling clothes- he is selling this sort of whimsical cool-without-even-trying image that people can't get enough of. I think that Marc Jacobs' ads are interesting in the way they relate to Barthes because according to Barthes, if you look at the pure image, you're still supposed to be able to tell certain things about the image. From looking at just the images in Marc Jacobs ads, one can get the carefree quirkiness. I think though, in order for the ads to be appealing, the text has to be there...



...Which brings me to branding. While other ads use descriptive words and phrases to project an image, Marc Jacobs has been so successful at branding both his line and himself that he doesn't need any words besides his brand's name in his ads.



And while we're on the subject of Marc Jacobs...



For those of you who are unfamiliar with Marc Jacobs, this tote came out a few seasons ago and retailed for $15 (I think?) and was only available in Marc Jacobs stores. Sure enough, the tote soon popped up on Ebay, and I remember seeing them go for as high as $60. I think that this is a prime example of our commodity culture. People see Marc Jacobs clothing and accessories as so desirable that they are willing to pay 4 times that tote's retail value (and many times the tote's production cost).

As an interesting side note, designers will often have garments created just for their ads. I think that really demonstrates how ads have changed from showcasing products to selling an image and a brand.