Marc Jacobs on His Physical Transformation and How It Helped Him Relate to His Female Customers

In a new interview with the-talks.com designer Marc Jacobs lets us in on why he beefed up and changed his physique for business reasons.

Remember when Marc Jacobs was an awkward, bespectacled, long-haired, slightly chubby, kinda dirty-looking guy who looked like he never left his studio? We do, and we’ll admit it: sometimes, we kind of miss him. He just seemed so shy and nerdy and relatable and like he was all about his craft and he and Sofia Coppola just hung out and watched movies in bed all the time. We’ve never completely understood why the designer felt the need to transform into the tanned, beefed-up, overly groomed person he is today–until now.
In an interview with The Talks, Jacobs dishes about his approach to making clothes, finding happiness and actually talks a lot about his decision to get in shape and and how that helped him relate to his customer. Click through for the best bits.

On why he decided to get in shape in the first place:

I did it for health reasons. I was really very weak. I had been working very hard and I had some stomach problems, so I saw a nutritionist and he recommended that I go to the gym and change my diet and all of that.
On people who say they liked him better the way he used to be:

It certainly changed a lot of people’s perspectives. Some people say that they liked me better the way I used to be, but those people don’t really know me so they don’t know that I am exactly the same person and I just look different. But I just feel stronger and better.
On how taking care of himself has helped him understand his customer better:

It’s funny: I enjoy clothing more, I enjoy getting my haircut, I enjoy grooming. In a way it kind of helped me to understand more of what the customer sees in terms of fashion. I got to appreciate it more from a first hand point of view. I like to shop, for example, which I never did before.
I feel much more secure with my body and in some ways I can relate more to the joys a woman gets in terms of taking care of herself.