Fashion

These Mannequins are the Face of Marc Jacobs

by Erin Mayer

The ready-to-wear ads for Marc Jacobs spring 2014 featured a moody Miley Cyrus brooding on a sinister beach after possibly killing someone in a cinematic display. We had a great time analyzing what went wrong on that beach, but have no fear — the fall 2014 ads are just as perplexing, if a little austere. Marc Jacobs opted for mannequins instead of models as the latest faces of his brand and the results are bizarre.

Okay, so they are actually models (Julia Nobis and Waleska Gorczevski, to be exact). But they look so eerily plastic that I definitely thought they were mannequins at first glance and you probably will too. Shot on a mint green background, they wear the same grey-blonde wigs and headbands that the models wore down the runway during NYFW. Their skin is bright fake-white and their elbows form sharp angles. They look like mannequins slowly coming to life at night. Creepy.

The campaign was shot by David Sims, who also did the Miley Cyrus ads. Sims replaced longtime Jacobs collaborator Juergen Teller last season after Teller refused to photograph Cyrus (ouch!). I'm happy to see Jacobs return to his minimalistic advertising roots, not that the Cyrus campaign wasn't fun. I just appreciate the macabre, Twilight Zone-y vibe of these new ads more.

Ready for the most Twilight Zone-y detail of all? These mannequin-models both look SO MUCH like Kendall Jenner (who, you might recall, walked in Jacobs fall 2014 runway show). Is Jenner Marc Jacob's latest muse? That might explain the similarities.

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Not yet convinced that the mannequins in Jacobs new ads are Kendall Jenner clones? I'll submit this photo from the upcoming issue of Vogue Paris for your consideration (Jenner is in the center):

SEE? Super weird, right? Now the real question is, what does a girl need to do in order to become Marc Jacob's muse? Star in a reality show? Wear a culturally appropriative nose ring? Look exactly like a mannequin? Kendall Jenner has the answers and we doubt she'll be willing to share her secrets.

Images: Marc Jacobs