TUESDAY, SEPT. 10 — This day started and ended with the afternoon’s Marc by Marc Jacobs show at Pier 57, which is a block or so from MILK on the Hudson River. That the venue was not the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue, also the site of the Collection show, suggested the multiple CFDA Award winner had something big planned for Thursday evening (more on that later).
As it was, the grittier pier suited the youthful line. Featuring in the show were Wilhelmina’s Elisabeth Erm, Manon Leloup (above), and new boy Blake Sugarman (below). The latter was scouted but a week prior to the show and promptly sent out on castings. The New York University student, currently in his fourth year of studying acting at Tisch, also garnered interest from another agency, but it was my colleagues on the men’s board who wasted no time in sending him to meet clients. The result speaks volumes as Blake claimed one of the few runway berths available to boys for the designer. Versed in experimental theater, the Marc by Marc show set to the raucous Jeffrey Lewis and the Rain’s single, “WWPRD,” provided Blake an entirely new stage on which to test his thespian mettle. On the evidence, he might well have a future in the theater of fashion.
