Designer Marc Jacobs leaves Louis Vuitton – source

By Astrid Wendlandt and Pascale Denis PARIS (Reuters) – Star designer Marc Jacobs is leaving Louis Vuitton after 16 years with the fashion brand, a source close to the French company's parent LVMH said on Wednesday. Jacobs steered Vuitton's growth into a global luxury brand which generates more than 7 billion euros ($9.46 billion) of revenues a year, contributing half of LVMH's operating profits. "Marc Jacobs is leaving Vuitton and will focus on his own brand," the source said on condition of anonymity. …