Marc Jacobs Resort/pre-summer 2017

The Marc Jacobs resort/pre-summer collection hit town yesterday and was certainly an interesting one. While there was an element of the unappealing in there, it was also stuffed full of ultra-commercial pieces that should spark a few trends.

Not least among them was the denim. Designers had a denim moment for SS15 with the catwalks awash with high-end versions of the material. Since then, they may not have made denim the starting point of their collections again but it’s figured prominently again and again and, importantly, has been a favourite of the key influencer labels that the high street watches like a hawk.

Marc Jacobs Resort/pre-summer 2017

Jacobs, now combining elements of his high end Marc Jacobs collection and his slight-less-unaffordable ‘Marc by…’ collection in one, has gone for denim in a big way (insofar as it may only have been two exits but they made a big impact).

And that’s coloured denim too. Think slim jeans with a natural waistline in a deep pink or lilac wash teamed with neat rider jackets plastered with motifs/patches.

Equally interesting and even more casual was his embracing of khaki and camouflage, something the ‘Marc by…’ label used to specialise in.

Marc Jacobs Resort/pre-summer 2017

A camo parka (again, plastered with motifs) looked very commercial, as did the khaki/military-style shirt jacket and trench. But the standout khaki piece was perhaps the cropped pants (part culottes, part loose pants) that came slung low with an almost-paper-bag waist and worn atop snakeskin knee-length boots. The fitted cropped top that went with them simply emphasised their loose silhouette.

Marc Jacobs Resort/pre-summer 2017

Elsewhere we got the usual Jacobs mix of can’t-miss-it eveningwear (the silhouette here often following Jacobs’ current volume obsession) and a pop culture-influenced mash-up of 50s-meets-80s styling. Leather bombers with full skirts weren’t quite channelling Grease but they weren’t far off it. The MTV logo was certainly one to watch.

Jacobs’ love of animal prints resurfaced too, here in a totally faux incarnation as zebra met pink, purple or gold leopard. The long or ankle-length boots in leopard or snakeskin were standout pieces.

All in all a really good collection. It could have been a great one but for some hideously ugly attempts at adding volume to the upper body with OTT sleeves that are best kept for the runway rather than ever being delivered in-store.

Marc Jacobs Resort/pre-summer 2017