Marc Jacobs to dismiss up to 10 percent of its workforce, including senior design team

Marc Jacobs is expected to dismiss up to 60 employees across its corporate headquarters, including senior designer Olymp Le-Tan. The Covid-19 crisis has fast-tracked existing sales issues at the LVMH-operated business, forcing a 10 percent cut of its workforce.

In a statement to WWD a spokesman said: “Given the substantial impact of Covid-19 on the retail industry, we have undertaken targeted changes that allow Marc Jacobs International to adapt to the landscape. evolving and continuing on our way to refocus the business by emphasizing the creative innovation that has always defined our brand. This included making the difficult decision to eliminate certain roles and, for a small number of employees, reduce responsibilities.”

Last year Marc Jacobs hired Le-Tan to head up the secondary line The Marc Jacobs. The collections were widely distributed internationally and was stocked in the Marc Jacobs flagship store on Madison Avenue and in the department stores. WWD reports that Le-Tan’s creations had not been unanimously successful within the brand’s merchandising sector, which would have preferred to give visibility to products more similar to what is already on the market.

“The fashion show as we know it will no longer exist.”

In recent weeks, Jacobs told American Vogue that he is not sure he can produce a SS21 collection and accompanying catwalk show. “We certainly will not set up a show like we did in the past. Already last season very few people were present in New York and fewer walked. Now it is unrealistic to think of guests, models, journalists and make-up artists who take a plane for a fashion show. I don’t think that when all this has calmed down, everyone will return to take a plane, a train, a bus for a show. We will have to be patient. Although everyone wants to restore the economy and restore a sense of normalcy, we must pay close attention. What I do, the clothes I make, as they are presented through a show, probably this mode will no longer exist. “

The fashion industry has been one of the worst hit by the coronavirus crisis, with the luxury sector expected to contract between 25 and 30 percent in the first quarter according to Bain & Company. With a second wave of Covid-19 looming, many are predicting the impact on the industry will be felt into much of 2021.

Image via Marc Jacobs