Marc Jacobs: ‘I have the word Shameless tattooed on my chest'

The distinguished designer’s return to New York has been triumphant. Here he talks about sobriety, social media and how clothes help articulate our feelings

“You can ask me anything. I’m an open book. What do you want to know?”

That, right there, is who Marc Jacobs is. Maybe he doesn’t mean it quite literally – what smart, self-respecting 52-year-old is going to share his deepest secrets with a journalist he barely knows? – but the sentiment is heartfelt, no doubt about that. I Want Your Love, Chic’s 1979 disco classic, is playing in his office, seven floors above Spring Street in New York’s SoHo. Jacobs lights a cigarette and leans back in his chair. “I have the word ‘Shameless’ tattooed on my chest. I want to be as honest as I possibly can,” he says. “I sleep better at night.”