For the launch of his new label, The Marc Jacobs, designer Marc Jacobs has collaborated with New York to build a collection featuring the magazine’s logotype, first drawn by Milton Glaser in 1968. The line mixes New York’s logo with a new mashed-up version reading “Marc Jacobs” on products and prints available across all its product categories, including sandals, jewelry, bags, and apparel. “The Marc Jacobs riffs on this classic emblem,” the brand says of the line.
New York Media was first approached by Marc Jacobs about collaborating on a collection in late 2018. “We saw this as a unique licensing opportunity, as both Marc Jacobs and New York Magazine are brands intrinsic to New York,” says Shyra Smart, New York’s head of business development. “The synergy of the collaboration just made sense.”
Marc Jacobs isn’t the first clothing brand to have shown interest in New York’s graphic-design past and present. New York teamed up with OnlyNY for two capsule collections in 2017 and 2018, bringing to life old covers, illustrations, and photographs from the magazine’s first decade, vintage New York merch, and more.
Bonanos also believes these recent collaborations make sense in light of the magazine’s storied history of covering shopping and consumerism. “One of the great innovations of New York was that it put really strong writing and reporting in the same weekly package with smart, discerning consumerism,” he says, noting that publications such as The New Yorker and the New York Times were somewhat sheepish back then about the idea that their readers actually bought stuff.
Bonanos, who is the magazine’s unofficial historian, has eBay alerts set for anything related to New York Magazine and has built up a small corporate archive of vintage merchandise. “As far as I can tell, our first logo T-shirts were sold around 1974 or ’75,” he says, noting that they were available in New York City’s official colors—blue with an orange logo, and orange with a blue logo.
marcjacobs NYMag yeah😀