Marc Jacobs’ spring ‘cleaning’

HE’S cleaning fashion house! Insiders tell us that Marc Jacobs has been swinging the ax at his hip fashion label over the past few weeks, letting staffers go — including John Targon, who joined the company months ago to reportedly build out the label’s lower-priced goods.

According to a source, Jacobs dismissed Targon and his team, while another insider tells us he’s also gotten rid of shoe-design staff. Targon, co-founder and creative director of the trendy label Baja East, began Feb. 2 as “creative director of contemporary” at Marc Jacobs, where his role was murkily defined. He was the first major hire by the brand’s CEO, Eric Marechalle, who joined the company in 2017.

According to a source, Jacobs is “on a kick after getting engaged and is super positive. He was having issues and wasn’t superinvolved . . . Now he is getting back into gear and taking the reins.” Jacobs popped the question to fiancé Charly Defrancesco this month at a Chipotle.

Another source tells us that when it came to Targon, “it was a difference in vision. It seemed like it came down to a control thing with Marc, and there wasn’t space for another star. It’s been hard for everyone.”

We hear Jacobs fired members of his shoe team after they presented new designs, another source said. “He met with them last week . . . He sold an underwhelming amount of shoes last year.”

The brand, owned by LVMH, has reportedly been struggling. Business of Fashion reported in February that retail revenue was down from “around $650 million to about $300 million” over the past “three to four years,” not counting its fragrance line.

A rep for the brand said, “I can conf irm John Targon is no longer with the company and we wish him the best.” But: “Everything else is untrue. Anything about Marc and his presence at the company . . . is untrue. He continues to be extremely committed to the company as artistic director.” After we reached out, the brand unfashionably leaked Targon’s exit to WWD.