The Deep Shallowness of Marc Jacobs

On a chilly night in New York, fashion designer Marc Jacobs is smoking a cigarette outside the Brooklyn Museum. His hair is dyed jet-black, his buff bod is encased in a bright-green suit, and he wears diamond earrings of an exceptional number of carats, like Puffy circa 1999. "The earrings cost $50,000, or $100,000, I don't know," says Jacobs, waving a hand. Indoors, there's an enormous party in honor of his collaboration with Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, with whom he has created a line of handbags. But Jacobs doesn't want to go in. He prefers to snicker on the stoop as celebrity guests file into the galleries.

Jacobs pulls out a camera. "I need some photographs for my MySpace page," he says. "I don't know how to post the pictures, so my assistant does it. MySpace makes people happy, which is cool. Also, I get very lonely, and MySpace makes me feel better."

It's hard to imagine Jacobs feeling lonely, even if there is something trés tragique about a famous 45-year-old gay guy who loves MySpace. As if on cue, Kristin Davis, the cute brunette from Sex and the City, dashes by. "I love Marc," she gushes. "He's just so kind, generous and honest." Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue and one of his longtime champions, kisses him on the cheek. "Marc has always been a supporter of the arts, so this evening is full circle," she says, before Kanye West gathers Jacobs in a bear hug, camera in hand. "This guy's my idol," says West, handing the camera to his manager to snap them together. "I wish I could hang out with Marc all the time, because he's so cool. I want to be just like him."

Jacobs' collaborator Murakami is a pioneer of animé as fine art, a style that is called otaku, and all around the galleries people are dressed like his characters sprung to life. West hightails it past life-size fiberglass models of a lactating woman whose excretions form a jump-rope and a masturbating boy with semen that has extended to form an improbable lasso. "I love the sculptures with the big boobs and the guy holding his penis, with his sperm in midair," he says excitedly. "Man, I want that in my apartment. That way, when people walk in, they know anything is possible."