Jacquemus: From Instagram Brand to Cultural Infrastructure

alizetuncel
Apr 19
4 min read

The Hardest Part of an Independent Designer Brand

Designer-led brands usually don’t struggle at the beginning. The real challenge comes later, when a personal vision needs to grow into something more structured. What starts as instinct and taste has to become something that can be repeated, recognized, and sustained. Many brands lose themselves at this point. Either they stay small and personal, or they grow and become indistinct. Jacquemus managed to move forward without losing clarity, and that is where it becomes interesting.

Image Source: Jacquemus Instagram page as personal account

Stage One: Remove the Distance

Jacquemus gained attention early on because it did not feel like a brand in the traditional sense. The Instagram account looked closer to Simon’s personal feed than a fashion house. References, humor, travel, friends, daily life all existed in the same space as the collections. The designer and the brand were not separated.

This changed how the product was perceived. In most cases, there is a clear distance between a product and its audience. It is seen from the outside, evaluated, and then either desired or ignored. With Jacquemus, that distance softened. The product appeared within a life that people were already following. It felt familiar before it was owned.

This familiarity created a different kind of attachment. People were not only reacting to individual pieces. They were connecting to the world those pieces belonged to.

Image Source: Jacquemus 2023 CGI holiday campaign and Seoul pop-up

Stage Two: Make It Recognizable

Early attention does not last on its own. At some point, what feels intuitive needs to become clear.

As the brand grew, Jacquemus became easier to read. The visuals became more defined, the references more consistent, the mood more stable. The feeling did not change, but it became easier to recognize.

This is a quiet but important shift. A personal vision can attract attention, but it cannot scale unless people can identify it quickly. Jacquemus reached a point where its images, colors, and settings could be recognized without explanation. That recognition is what turns a feeling into a brand.

Image Source: Jacquemus SS2020 runway show

Stage Three: Expand Carefully

Growth introduces new formats and new expectations. This is where many brands lose coherence. The identity becomes diluted as the brand tries to do more.

Jacquemus expanded, but stayed focused.

The SS2020 lavender field runway in Provence is a clear example. A long pink runway cutting through rows of lavender created a strong, simple image. It did not rely on complexity. It relied on clarity. To Simon, the distance between the creative and the audience is the problem in the luxury world. He said, “It is complex and my grandmother cannot understand it.” in his 2024 interview with BoF. He later added that he wanted to do something everyone could understand and enter. The show stayed close to the brand’s code while making it larger in scale.

The same approach appeared in its pop-ups. The Jacquemus 24/24 Paris pop-up for the launch of the Bambino Long bag felt more like a visual installation than a store. The space was designed to be seen and shared, not just visited. Product was present, but it was not the only focus. The environment carried the message.

CGI followed a similar logic. In the same interview, Simon said, “I don’t have time to be a snob. When you’re independent, you have to be visible,” referring to the bags-on-the-street campaign. When digital visuals became more common, Jacquemus used them in a way that matched its existing tone. The medium changed, but the identity stayed intact.

Across these formats, the brand did not change direction. It continued to build on the same ideas.

Image Source: Jacquemus Paris 24/24 pop-up

Stage Four: The Brand Becomes the Focus

As the brand expanded, it eventually reached the stage every growing fashion house faces: retail.

At that point, growth becomes operational. The brand has to sell, occupy space, and exist within the same physical environment as established luxury houses. But Jacquemus approached this differently.

Opening stores in locations like London’s Bond Street placed the brand directly inside the most traditional luxury domain. Instead of adapting to that environment, it brought its own into it. The feeling stayed the same. “We are very solar, we give a big smile,” Simon said, describing the intention behind the stores. He also made it clear that he wanted them to feel less like stores and more like homes.

Even the decision to open in those locations was not presented as a calculated move, but as something he had imagined long before, a personal ambition rather than a strategic step. That continuity matters. It allowed the brand to grow without becoming distant.

Retail, which often creates separation, was used here to maintain closeness.

At the same time, as visibility became more important, Jacquemus chose a direction that stayed true to its core. Instead of introducing an external face, it named Simon’s grandmother as its first brand ambassador, framing it with a simple line: “before anything, there was her. the original icon.”

The choice reinforced the same values the brand had been built on from the beginning.

At its most critical point, where most brands become unrecognizable, Jacquemus did not distance itself from its audience. And in doing so, it kept its community intact.

Image Source: Jacquemus London store

What Jacquemus Got Right

Jacquemus is worth studying because it knew how to lead, not follow. From early runway shows that pushed other brands to think more carefully about staging, to pop-ups and visual experiments, it consistently set the tone rather than adapting to it.

At the same time, it built a world people could actually connect with. Simon’s life, references, and even personal details created a sense of familiarity that felt rare in fashion. Over time, that closeness turned into something larger. The brand became a shared space people recognize, follow, and participate in. Today, the same images come to mind when someone says “Jacquemus summer.” That is what makes it function like cultural infrastructure. It holds attention, creates community, and keeps people engaged whether they are buying or not. The takeaway is clear. Growth comes from building something people want to return to, not just something they want to own.