Questions Unanswered As Jacobs Confirms Marc By Marc Closure

Marc Jacobs has confirmed the merger of his Marc by Marc Jacobs diffusion line with his main line, but many questions about the future of the brand remain unanswered. Although keen to talk about the future and growth of his eponymous label as it approaches a rumoured IPO, Jacobs was less forthcoming on the fate of his two lead creatives - Katie Hillier, who is creative director of the Marc by Marc line, and fellow Brit Luella Bartley, who is the womenswear designer at the label.

As a long-term collaborator, with a wealth of experience in the lucrative accessories arena, Hillier is likely to be retained by the label in some capacity, although Jacobs has not confirmed how her role will change once Marc By Marc is no more. Although Sebastian Suhl, the brand's new CEO, insisted that the team will grow rather than shrink as a result of the merger, he did not comment on Bartley's future or whether her services will be required once the lower-priced offering falls again within Jacobs's remit.

Between them, Marc Jacobs and the Marc By Marc line have around 200 stores worldwide but since many of them - including those on Bleecker Street, New York; Melrose, LA; and Mount Street, London - are only a few doors from one another, their future, and that of the teams working within them, is by no means guaranteed.

Suhl hopes that the closure of the Marc by Marc label and expansion of the main line will allow the company to inhabit a greater breadth of price points, claiming territory in the so-called "white space" between contemporary and luxury.

At the time of Jacobs's departure from Louis Vuitton in 2013, WWD reported that LVMH controlled only a third of the Jacobs trademark, while Robery Duffy and Marc Jacobs each owned a third. Since then, LVMH has acquired a controlling interest in the company, with sources speculating that the conglomerate now owns 80 per cent, and Jacobs and Duffy now only 10 per cent each.