[3] The company was named after the French artist Marcel Duchamp with the following claim by Jacobs : "Duchamp turned everyday objects into art and I turned everyday icons of men's fashion into wearable art".

[3] Duchamp initially specialised in cufflinks[4] and branched in 1992 into ties, with characteristic bold colours and "futuristic" designs.

[3][5][6] Jacobs established a wholesale trade and opened in 1998 a small boutique in Notting Hill[7][8] In 2006, when the founder sold the company to its management and the private-equity fund Kcaj LLP,[7] Marc Psarolis became part-owner and chief executive.

[9][10] The same year, the company opened a 750-square-foot (70 m2) store on Regent Street and introduced a line of shirts.

[3] In 2011, the company claimed to sell "more than 60,000 ties a year [...] as well as cufflinks, suits, jackets, socks and shirts".