Robert Duffy (businessman)

Last updated

Robert Duffy
Born (1954-10-14) October 14, 1954 (age 68)
Butler, Pennsylvania, United States
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFashion executive
Known forWork with Marc Jacobs
Spouses
Alex Cespedes
​
​
(m. 2010;div. 2012)​
Connor Dodd
​
(m. 2015)​
Children2

Robert Duffy (born October 14, 1954) is an American businessman. He is the co-founder of the fashion label Marc Jacobs as well as the Marc by Marc Jacobs diffusion line. Both Marc Jacobs and the Marc by Marc Jacobs collections included women's ready-to-wear, men's ready-to-wear, children's ready-to-wear, and accessories for all divisions. [1]

Contents

Duffy started the BookMarc store in early 2007. [2] Duffy & Jacobs formed a partnership with LVMH in 1997 and Duffy acted as Design Studio Director for Louis Vuitton from 1998 to 2013. [3]

Early life and career

Duffy was born on October 14, 1954, in Butler, Pennsylvania and spent his early life in Pennsylvania and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Robert Duffy started his career at Bergdorf Goodman in their buying office in 1978. In 1983 he founded the company Sketchbook with Ruben Thomas. As a young executive, after viewing Marc Jacobs’ designs during a fashion show at Parsons School of Design, Duffy hired Jacobs as the designer at Sketchbook. In 1984, Duffy renamed the company Marc Jacobs International, and Marc became an equal partner. [4] Interviewed by Vogue about their business model, Duffy said, "I never opened a store where there is fashion. In SoHo (New York), there was nothing but a garage there when we opened. People thought I was crazy... Opening Marc by Marc was very big. Marc's love is the collection line. I always wanted the company to be broad and wanted to reach out to a lot of people. It was difficult to convince people that it was necessary - to be a luxury brand but be all price points. But I knew I could do it and I'm proud we did it" [5]

Duffy had various titles at Marc Jacobs International from 1984 to 2013 including Founder, chairman, Co-chairman, and President. In 1997 Duffy and Jacobs formed a partnership with LVMH. Duffy retained his titles at Marc Jacobs and was named Design Studio Director at Louis Vuitton from 1998 to 2013. LVMH acquired 20% ownership of the Marc Jacobs trademark at the time while Duffy and Jacobs retained 40% each.

In Summer 2013, there were 285 Marc Jacobs retail stores (including Marc by Marc Jacobs & Marc Jacobs Collection, and BookMarc stores) in 80 countries. [6] Duffy opened the first high-end retail stores on Bleecker Street in New York. [7]

In 2013 Robert Duffy stepped back from his day-to-day responsibilities at Marc Jacobs International to raise his young children. [8] Duffy is currently Founder and Deputy Chairman of Marc Jacobs International and remains a substantial stockholder in Marc Jacobs International. [9]

Charities

In 1997 Duffy was diagnosed with metastatic malignant melanoma. Duffy started the "Protect the Skin You're In" cancer research project benefiting the NYU Langone Medical Center. Over the years, he recruited celebrities and models to pose nude for t-shirts to raise money and awareness of malignant melanoma. Celebrities who posed include Miley Cyrus, Eva Mendes, Milla Jovovich, Kate Upton, Victoria Beckham, Heidi Klum, Julian Moore, Hilary Swank, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell. [10]

Duffy supports numerous charities including New York University Cancer Center, the Hetrick-Martin Institute/Harvey Milk School, the Human Rights Campaign, amfAR, New York State land trusts & preservation organizations, The Rhinebeck Science Foundation, and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

Duffy has received awards from the American Cancer Society, New York University Langone Medical Center, Aid for AIDS, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Designers Against AIDS, amFAR, the Human Rights Campaign, and the Hetrick-Martin Institute/Harvey Milk School. [11] [18] [19] [20] [21]

Personal life

In 2013, Duffy purchased and restored Rhinebeck's Astor Tea House, a 40-acre estate on the Hudson River. This home and his other homes in Paris,[ which? ] Savannah, Georgia, Cape Cod, and New York's Greenwich Village have been featured in various publications. [22] [23] [24]

Duffy married Alex Cespedes, a native of Paraguay working in real estate, in Provincetown, Massachusetts on April 20, 2010. [25] [26] In August 2011 they adopted a baby girl named Victoria, [27] before divorcing a year later. [28] On June 20, 2015, he married Connor Dodd at his farm in Rhinebeck. [29] [30] By January 2016 Duffy was in the process of adopting a second child, Caldwell. [31]

Related Research Articles

<i>W</i> (magazine) American online fashion magazine

W is an American fashion magazine that features stories about style through the lens of culture, fashion, art, celebrity, and film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fendi</span> Italian enterprise and fashion house

Fendi is an Italian luxury fashion house producing fur, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories. Founded in Rome in 1925, Fendi is known for its fur, fur accessories, and leather goods. Since 2001, Fendi has been part of the “Fashion & Leather Goods” division of the French group LVMH. Its headquarters are in Rome, in the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Vuitton</span> French international fashion house

Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton, is a French luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, perfumes, watches, jewellery, accessories, sunglasses and books. Louis Vuitton is one of the world's leading international fashion houses. It sells its products through standalone boutiques, lease departments in high-end departmental stores, and through the e-commerce section of its website.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LVMH</span> French multinational luxury goods conglomerate

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, commonly known as LVMH, is a French multinational holding and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy, which was established following the 1971 merger between the champagne producer Moët & Chandon and the cognac producer Hennessy. In 2023, with a valuation of $500 billion, LVMH became the most valuable company in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Arnault</span> French businessperson (born 1949)

Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is a French businessperson, investor, and art collector. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world's largest luxury goods company. Arnault and his family have an estimated net worth of US$230 billion as of July 2023, according to Forbes, making him one of the wealthiest people in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolina Herrera</span> Venezuelan fashion designer (born 1939)

Carolina Herrera is a Venezuelan fashion designer known for her personal style, and for dressing various First Ladies, including Jacqueline Onassis, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Jacobs</span> American fashion designer (born 1963)

Marc Jacobs is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was discontinued after the 2015 fall/winter collection. At its peak, it had over 200 retail stores in 80 countries. He was the creative director of the French design house Louis Vuitton from 1997 to 2014. Jacobs was on Time magazine's "2010 Time 100" list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and was #14 on Out magazine's 2012 list of "50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America". He married his longtime partner Charly Defrancesco on April 6, 2019.

amfAR Nonprofit AIDS research organization

amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, known until 2005 as the American Foundation for AIDS Research, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of AIDS-related public policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berluti</span> Prestigious leather maker

Berluti is a French leather maker that manufactures menswear, especially the leather finishing of calfskin, kangaroo leather and alligator skin in its production of shoes and boots. It makes leather belts, bags, and wallets, as well as bespoke and ready-to-wear garments. Established in 1895 by Italian Alessandro Berluti of Marche, Berluti is based in Paris on rue Marbeuf. The latest creative director was Kris Van Assche (2018-2021).

Kristen McMenamy is an American model known for her unconventional, androgynous appearance. Originally a long-haired redhead, she reinvented her look in the early 1990s by having her hair cut short and dyed black, and her eyebrows shaved off. Her career was boosted by the advent of the grunge fashion trend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loewe (fashion brand)</span> Spanish luxury fashion house

Loewe is a Spanish luxury fashion house specialising in leather goods, clothing, perfumes and other fashion accessories. Founded in 1846, Loewe is LVMH's oldest luxury fashion house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celine (brand)</span> French fashion brand

Celine is a French luxury ready-to-wear and leather goods brand owned by the LVMH group since 1996. It was founded in 1945 by Céline Vipiana. Since November 2015, the headquarters are located at 16 rue Vivienne in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris at the Hôtel Colbert de Torcy, which has French Historic Monument classification. Séverine Merle has been the Chief Executive Officer since April 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Enninful</span> Ghanaian-born English editor and stylist (born 1972)

Edward Kobina Enninful is a Ghanaian-born British editor and stylist who was the editor-in-chief of British Vogue and the European editorial director of Condé Nast. He was appointed fashion director of the British fashion magazine i-D at the age of 18, a position he held for more than two decades. He subsequently held the positions of contributing fashion editor at Vogue Italia and American Vogue, as well as creative fashion director at W magazine. Enninful was appointed editor-in-chief of British Vogue in 2017 but stepped down after a short tenure in 2023.

Alexander Mark Heming Gilkes is a British businessman. He is the co-founder of venture studio Squared Circles, which launched in 2020. He was previously the co-founder and president of online auction house Paddle8 from 2011 to 2018, when it was sold to The Native.

Sebastian Suhl is an American fashion industry executive and former CEO of Marc Jacobs International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bella Hadid</span> American model (born 1996)

Isabella Khairiah Hadid is an American model. Throughout her career, she has made 29 appearances on international Vogue covers. In 2022, she was named Model of the Year by the British Fashion Council. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world on its annual list in 2023.

Tyler Ford is a writer, activist, actor, and public speaker who advocates for transgender and non-binary people. Ford appeared as the first transgender contestant on The Glee Project in 2012. Ford lives and works in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slick Woods</span> American model

Simone Thompson, better known as Slick Woods, is an American fashion model, known for her bald head, gapped teeth, and tattoos. Woods is a part of the "Social Media Modeling" or "Instagirl" movement as she has followers in the six-figure range.

Eckhaus Latta is an American fashion brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ashton</span> New Zealand makeup artist

Michael Owen Ashton is a New Zealand makeup artist, hairstylist, beauty expert, and brand founder. He is recognized for having created the makeup look and eyeliner of recording artist Adele for the cosmetic house of Marc Jacobs Beauty, owned by Kendo group – LVMH. He is currently CEO and Creative Director of his eponymous cosmetics brand, Michael Ashton Beauty.

References

  1. ↑ 1)“Marc Jacobs” Glamour.
  2. ↑ Pithers, Ellie (November 7, 2012). "Robert Duffy moves into books". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Robert Duffy is part of the BoF 500". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Fashion's Better Halves." The Wall Street Journal. August 25, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Marc Jacobs: Setting Up Shop." Vogue. April 20, 2009.
  6. ↑ Mistry, Meenal (August 25, 2011). "Fashion's Better Halves". Wall Street Journal Magazine.
  7. ↑ Bellafante, Ginia (December 4, 2001). "In the Far West Village, a Bleecker Street Makeover (Published 2001)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  8. ↑ 3)Francesca Sterlacci, Joanne Arbuckle. Historical Dictionary of the Fashion Industry, 2E. Rowman & Littlefield. 2017 pp. 245-6.
  9. ↑ Adams, Erika (March 23, 2015). "Marc Jacobs's Longtime Business Partner Robert Duffy Has Stepped Down". Racked. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  10. ↑ Janette, Misha (January 12, 2011). "Robert Duffy charms Tokyo". Tokyo Weekender . Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Fashion Designer Marc Jacobs Launches Melanoma T-Shirt Campaign".
  12. ↑ Fashionista. "Saint Marc: Marc Jacobs and Robert Duffy Fund Provincetown Playground Restoration". Fashionista. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  13. ↑ “amfAR Inspiration Gala in New York 2012” Vogue.de Retrieved September 12, 2017. http://www.vogue.de/people-kultur/people-news/charity-event-amfar-inspiration-gala-in-new-york-2012 Archived April 20, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ "Gala 2017 - Rhinebeck Science Foundation". www.rhinebecksciencefoundation.org.
  15. ↑ "From the Director of Provincetown Art Association and Museum - Provincetown Art Association and Museum". January 7, 2014.
  16. ↑ Karimzadeh, Marc (October 9, 2014). "Robert Duffy to Receive Honor in Provincetown".
  17. ↑ "Preserving a Legacy, Building a Future - Provincetown Magazine".
  18. ↑ "amfAR :: In The Spotlight :: Robert Duffy and Marc Jacobs International :: The Foundation for AIDS Research :: HIV / AIDS Research". www.amfar.org. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  19. ↑ "amfAR :: In The Spotlight :: Robert Duffy and Marc Jacobs International :: The Foundation for AIDS Research :: HIV / AIDS Research". amfar.org.
  20. ↑ "Out 100:Style-Makers of the Year." Out. (December 2005)
  21. ↑ "HETRICK-MARTIN HOSTS ANNUAL AWARDS". gaycitynews.nyc.
  22. ↑ Wells, Gully (September 9, 2016). "Step Inside The New York Estate The Astors Once Called Home". ELLE Decor. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  23. ↑ Colman, David (October 2012). "Look Inside Robert Duffy's Historic Manhattan Townhouse". Architectural Digest. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Georgia State of Mind: Robert Duffy's Savannah Retreat". DuJour. October 1, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  25. ↑ Foley, Bridget (April 14, 2010). "Marc Jacobs President to Marry: Here Come the Grooms". WWD. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  26. ↑ Milligan, Laura (April 15, 2010). "A Jacobs Wedding". British Vogue. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  27. ↑ Knutsen, Elise (November 9, 2011). "Robert Duffy and Husband Alex Cespedes are Fathers!". Observer. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  28. ↑ Pithers, Ellie (November 7, 2012). "Robert Duffy moves into books - Telegraph". fashion.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  29. ↑ Gould, Jennifer (April 22, 2016). "Robert Duffy's Greenwich Village pad goes on sale for $17M". New York Post. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  30. ↑ Foley, Bridget (June 23, 2015). "Bridget Foley's Diary: A Wedding in Rhinebeck". WWD. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  31. ↑ Foley, Bridget (January 31, 2016). "Robert Duffy to Be a Dad Again". WWD. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.