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It’s been a few months since WWD granted column space to a Dior rumor, but today Marc Jacobs gets his name in big bold letters. It was originally rumored that LVMH would wait to announce a successor until this fall, to give them time to weigh their options but also to keep the fall collection from being over-shadowed. So timing wise, the heated gossip that Marc Jacobs is their man, makes sense. Jacobs has helmed the LVMH owned Louis Vuitton label for fourteen years, and should be negotiating that contract, but sources say they’ve switched gears and he, as well as business partner Robert Duffy and a team of lawyers, have been busy meeting with Bernard Arnault to talk about Dior (even though in 2003, Arnault told the trade paper, “Had I hired Marc Jacobs for Dior and John Galliano for Louis Vuitton, it would not have worked as well for both brands, even though both designers are geniuses of their own.”). Meanwhile, sources also tell WWD that Lanvin‘s Alber Elbaz, Balenciaga’s Nicolas Ghesquiere and Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton have told Arnault that they’re not interested in leading Dior, leaving only Riccardo Tisci‘s name floating around near Jacobs’. With fashion week quickly approaching, it shouldn’t be long before the year’s most important fashion question is answered.