Long before Marc Jacobs filled the runways with A-list front rows or Sofia Coppola produced Oscar-winning movies, these two were just two creative minds in their 20s who came together for a very special moment in downtown New York. Their first meeting at Jacobs’ 1992 Grunge collection for Perry Ellis set the tone for a scene they continued to orbit throughout the ’90s, one defined by stripped-down anti-glamour and effortlessness.
They may have ditched grunge, but they continue to maintain one of fashion’s most famous friendships. When producers approached Jacobs about the documentary, he only agreed if Coppola directed it. “I knew that with Sophia, we would be comfortable with each other,” he told Variety in a corner booth at Café Cluny in the West Village, wrapping his signature nails around a glass of Arnold Palmer. “There won’t be any documentary conventions like interrogations or dramatic music.”
Coppola wasn’t so sure. “I don’t know how to make a documentary,” she recalls thinking. Being close friends with the subject added pressure: “It had to be good for Mark.” But when Jacobs set out to create her Spring/Summer 2024 collection, she thought: “Okay, I can’t let this moment slip away.” She called her brother Roman Coppola and headed to Jacobs’ SoHo studio.
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The 70-minute film is a visual scrapbook of archival footage from his ’90s heyday and the pop culture touchstones that shaped him. No professional lighting or makeup. Mr. Jacobs is often tired, sometimes dazed and smoking an e-cigarette between questions. When he saw a scene for the first time, he recalls thinking, “What the hell is going on with my hair there? That would never have happened with any other director.” For Coppola, that intimacy was key. “I wanted to make it feel like no one else, and I could do that.”
Ahead of Friday’s release of Mark by Sophia, Coppola and Jacobs talk about the heyday of the ’90s, the evolution of personal style in New York City, and their personal muses.
This document does not contain any information about Mark’s personal life. Was this intentional?
Sofia Coppola: We were really thinking about that as we were doing it. We never talked about including it or not including it. I never want to pry.
Marc Jacobs: There’s a part where Sophia comes to my house and we start talking about our childhood. I wish they hadn’t done that because it felt like a (typical) documentary. It wasn’t a big deal, it was only about 30 seconds, but I was like, “Why did I go there?” But I think it was just that moment. I was very remorseful. But I didn’t want it to feel like a Diane Sawyer news feature.
Coppola: But I loved hearing about your childhood. Because I think everything we do comes from that place in a way that we can relate to. And I’m obsessed with that scene of you lounging on your couch in a Prada robe.
Was that the day after the performance?
Coppola: That’s right. “Post Art Done” crash. I wanted to capture it to understand the whole cycle. Like, now he’s going to get up and do it all over again. And we all feel that way. I always feel like that after a movie, the adrenaline rushes and I crash because I’m with everyone, and it’s like when you drive home in a camper in the summer. I can relate to that disappointment.
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Thanks to social media, it’s easier than ever for younger generations to imitate someone’s appearance. Do you think personal style has been lost compared to the 90s?
Coppola: Yeah, I heard there are young people trying to look like JFK Jr. now. (lol)
Jacobs: So in my mother’s generation, every young woman her age wanted to look like Elizabeth Taylor and be just as attractive. She became the prototype of a sexy and beautiful woman.
Coppola: For me, it was Kate Moss. But living in New York, I love seeing people get dressed up and go out in full looks. It’s great to see what teens spend their time doing.
You say in the film that in the ’90s people were “scandalized by everything natural” because it was difficult to recreate.
Jacobs: It was the complete opposite of the glamor of the 1980s, including the lighting, makeup, and glamor. One of the things that was so dramatic about grunge and the photos from that era is that it was about this girl who was 5 feet 7 inches tall, and she wasn’t a glamazon. And her most beautiful photo was without makeup, wearing panties and a bra. No hair or makeup. It’s really a problem for women because they can’t bring their photos to the hair salon.
Your latest collection evokes a lot of 90s grunge. Was it a coincidence?
Jacobs: We didn’t sit down at the table and say, “Let’s do a collection around the movie.” However, I think that one event triggered a memory. It looks like a wooden shirt with a skirt. The original X-Girl T-shirt and mini skirt didn’t look exactly alike, but the idea was the same. So it was the perfect baby T-shirt with the perfect mini skirt, which was a huge part of the aesthetic at the time.
You’ve both said that your art is about pure entertainment and fun. Do you feel pressured to make a statement rather than an escape during difficult times?
Coppola: It confuses me because as an artist it confuses me. These are really difficult times, so I don’t want to make something light, but I also don’t want to make something dark. For me, it’s about creating something that sparks creativity in a time when people are depressed about the same things. There is always beauty in creativity.
