Marc Jacobs is continuing in his new tradition of mixing models with muses for his ad campaigns for spring/summer 2016. After announcing two weeks ago that the campaign would feature people who "inspire me and open my mind to different ways of seeing and thinking," beginning with director Lana Wachowski, Jacobs has been rolling out the stars on Instagram. On Friday, he introduced Dan Donigan, a.k.a. Milk.
Milk competed on season 6 of RuPaul's Drag Race, and only made it through six episodes before being eliminated. Still, Jacobs noticed the performer with the exaggerated lips and the delicious name.
"One night while watching RuPaul’s Drag Race I recognized one of our men’s sweaters on a tall, handsome contestant," Jacobs writes on Instagram. "His unique, artistic drag sensibility reminded me so much of the amazing drag characters of my club days at The Pyramid, Copacabana and other New York haunts I used to frequent."
It turns out, Donigan acquired that sweater while working at a Marc Jacobs store in Provincetown, MA. When Jacobs began following him on Instagram, Donigan sent him a personal thank you note, which Jacobs quotes in his post.
"When I started working for the MJ stores 5 years ago, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life," Donigan said. "I was lost. All I knew was that I wanted to flex my creative muscle and most importantly, be happy. Working for your namesake company helped me along the way."
In addition to Wachowski and Milk, the spring/summer campaign also includes two ladies long admired by the drag community, Sandra Bernhard and Bette Midler, as well as two models named Kiki and Veronika.