Givenchy Fashion House

Hubert de Givenchy (“Gee-von-shee”), the Givenchy Fashion House founder, was born in 1927, in the small town of Beauvais, France. As Givenchy’s father died the boy was raised by his mother and grandfather, an artist and expert tapestry maker.

Givenchy interest in fashion began when he at the age of ten visited the “fashion pavilion” at the International Exhibition in Paris. At home, he learned copies of “Vogue” magazine, often paying special attention to one man’s designs – Balenciaga.

After World War II Monsieur de Givenchy studied at the prestigious Beaux-Arts School in Paris. One day, Givenchy tried his strength at Balenciaga’s studio, stepped in with his portfolio in one hand and passionate desire to learn. But future Givenchy Fashion House founder was turned away as being too inexperienced.

Soon after he was hired by Jacques Fath, and then he worked briefly for Lucien LeLong and for Elsa Schiaparelli. Here he met LeLong’s assistants: Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain. Schiaparelli put him in charge of her boutique where he learned about accessories – the experience that influenced his fashion view a lot as accessories became important part of Givenchy’s own work.

In 1952 Givenchy opened his fashion house, The House of Givenchy, near the Parc Monceau in Paris. Lacking the funds for costly fabric, Givenchy’s first collection was produced using plain, white, men’s shirting material. Nevertheless, Givenchy’s show was a huge success and earned him worldwide recognition. Particularly popular was the “bettina” (blouse), named after Bettina Graziani, Paris top model of the day. Now this fashion classic high-necked full blouse with ruffled sleeves is the “Galleries Lafayette” symbol.

At 25, Hubert de Givenchy was the youngest designer of the progressive Paris fashion scene.

The two women of Givenchy’s fashion 50s and 60s inspiration are Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy. October 19, 1960, three weeks before the election, during a ticker- tape parade in New York City Jackie was in a wide cut coat and pillbox hat by Givenchy. During the First Couple’s state visit to France in 1961 Mrs. Kennedy wore the cream silk gown with an embroidered bodice designed by Givenchy. It also was a sadder occasion that the world remembers Jackie Kennedy wearing a Givenchy black dress as she attended her husband’s funeral ceremony in 1963.

Givenchy remembered Audrey Hepburn for the first time as she appeared at his studio resembling an awkward teenager looking for dresses to wear in her first big film “Sabrina.” Since then, Hubert de Givenchy had been dressing Audrey, both on-screen and off-screen, for forty years. She was his perfect image of a woman: thin, elegant, poised. It was she, who brought that Givenchy’s quintessence – always-perfectly-dressed. Audrey Hepburn appeared in Givenchy in her films “Funny Face,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Charade,” as well as “Sabrina.” Givenchy won the academy award in costume design for his work in “Sabrina” in 1957.

The fashion designer Givenchy was the first to show women’s “pret-a-porter” (ready-to-wear) clothes. He realized, before many of his colleagues, that women of the 60s needed less fussy, easier-to-wear clothes in this new age of air travel. Through this line, he introduced his “fun” clothes – leopard-print pantsuits and prints inspired by the modern artists Miro, Braque, and Rothko. To this end, he raised hemlines and introduced the “bag” dress - the streamlined, sheath dress that has come to symbolize fashion in the 60s.

Present Givenchy womenswear saw designer Julien McDonald as in 2001 he was appointed Artistic Director for the women’s lines, which consist of haute couture and ready-to-wear.

In 2005 Riccardo Tisci was named chief designer of womenswear. Tisci’s gothic touches (dark, languid dresses on sickly-looking models for fall couture) and space-age minimalism (one ready-to-wear show featured white-clad models drifting aimlessly around a sterile-white sphere) have drawn new attention to the brand.

Givenchy founded his men’s line, “Gentleman Givenchy” in 1973. Spring 2005 Givenchy menswear was relaunched with Savile Row suitmaker Ozwald Boateng at the helm. But Boateng has missed the high fashion mark being set by his rivals and completed his tenure at Givenchy with the Spring 2007 collection. From there the men’s line absent for Fall 2007 and then designed by a nameless Givenchy in-house committee for Spring and Fall 2008. For Spring 2009, the task finally fell upon womenswear designer Riccardo Tisci, who brought the sleek, darker themes prevalent in his women’s collections to the traditionally more conservative menswear division.

Throughout the years Givenchy brand expanded worldwide into many different areas. His Lincoln Mark V car design in the 70s sold out immediately. Today, the Givenchy brand encompasses:

• fragrance,
• skincare,
• jewelry,
• fashion.

Monsieur de Givenchy sold his Givenchy Fashion House empire in 1988 to the french luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) which also owns the fashion houses of Dior, Lacroix and Kenzo. In 1993 Givenchy Fashion House achieved a total sales worth of $176 million, making it the second largest apparel division of LVMH after Dior. In 1995 under the company pressure Givenchy had to retire.

During his reign as the designer of the label bearing his name, Hubert de Givenchy was known for his modern, ladylike styles, which earned him many loyal clients. His other famous patrons include the Guinness and Grimaldi families.

Today Hubert de Givenchy lives quietly at his estate, “Le Jonchet,” outside of Paris. He is a renowned collector of antique furniture and of modern art. Vintage Givenchy gowns can be seen frequently on the red carpet as well as in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Musee de Mode (fashion museum) in Paris.

Tags: bag dress, bettina blouse, fashion brand, fashion designer, fashion house, Givenchy

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

1,579 views

If you enjoyed this post you might want to subscribe to our RSS Feed!