Real People Behind Big Names

Just three weeks before hitting the runway, Marc allowed our cameras behind the scenes at his SoHo studio as he prepared for fashion week in New York. The pressure is on as Marc's team works to snip, shape and stitch each garment. Much of Marc's day is spent sketching. He says it's a process of trial and error to capture the essence of his ideas on paper. Later, Marc will work with a fit model to get a better feel for how the clothes will look on the runway.

Today, the designs are in the muslin stage, a fabric that's like a blank canvas that allows Marc to see the shape before the expensive fabrics are used. Marc literally rips, pulls and tugs the muslin into shape. Then, it's back to the seamstress for another round of tweaks. This process goes on for weeks—sometimes right until minutes before the show.

There will be many late nights before show time, but Marc says he's living his dream. "Work is what really thrills me," he says. "The creation of things." Marc's latest creation fulfills another dream he's had since he was a teen—he opened his first store in Paris at the Palais Royale.

See styles from Marc Jacobs's Spring 2006 collections.