Marc Jacob’s wowed the fashion people (again) with his dramatics and theatrics.

“All the world’s a stage!” said Marc Jacobs backstage at his show. “Everything’s beautiful at the ballet! Life is a cabaret!”

His explanation for tonight’s collection only told part of the story. This season, the references came fast and furious: the models with their chalky, kabuki makeup and flat-platform soled slides, the clothes with their layers of ruffles and decoration and explorations into what goes under and over (satin bras went over little knits) and playful approach to proportions drew clearly from Japans of many eras. There were touches of the geisha (that makeup, those shoes), of Manga (those tight little buns), yet the greatest influence was that of Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons.

In keeping with the theatrical aesthetic of the entire collection, makeup artist François Nars describes his inspiration as “ballerina, cabaret girl, Broadway show meets opera meets Martha Graham with a touch of gothic.” Watch to see the look applied.

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