In ‘Marc by Sofia,’ a portrait of a fashion luminary: 'There was no off limits'

Sofia Coppola has made a documentary about her friend Marc Jacobs that shows how Jacobs creates fashion, up close and unscripted

VENICE, Italy -- Neither Sofia Coppola nor Marc Jacobs were convinced a documentary was a good idea. Jacobs wasn’t sure he wanted to be the subject of one and Coppola wasn’t sure she wanted the pressure of being the person behind the camera. This was her friend of over 30 years, after all. What if the film wasn’t good?

Yet the idea, which they credit to producers R.J. and Jane Cha Cutler, started to take hold. Coppola has always been interested in fashion and the creative process. Jacobs knew that if anyone could make him feel less self-conscious, it would be her. And they decided to jump into the unknown. At least it would be together.

“There was no off limits,” Jacobs said in an interview, alongside Coppola, with The Associated Press before the Venice Film Festival in September. “It was just like come as you are and you get what you get and that’s the way it’s going to be.”

“Marc, by Sofia,” which opens in theaters Friday, is an evocative, and very Coppola, collage of Jacobs’ influences, his biography and his team at work putting together a ready-to-wear collection.

“I’ve never done anything like this where there isn’t a plan or a script,” Coppola said. “What I was trying to do is show his creative process around this one collection and then interweave inspiration and references and artists who collaborated with him to have this full portrait.”