7. HIS MUSE AND HIS MENTOR
Audrey Hepburn Cristobal Balenciaga
8. EXPANSION &
PRESENT DAY GIVENCHY
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1956- Piracy of Designs
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1973- Launched Gentlemen Givenchy
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1988- Sold Givenchy to Louis Vuitton Moet
Hennesy
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1995- Retired. John Galliano takes over.
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1997- Alexander McQueen is hired.
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2001- Julien Macdonald is hired.
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2005- Ricardo Tisci is the new creative director.
9. REFERENCES
Books
Baker, Patricia. Fashions of a Decade: The 1950's. New York: Facts On File, 1991.
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Peacock, John. Fashion Sourcebooks: The 1950's. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
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Mohrt, Francoise. The Givenchy Style. New York: Vendome Press, 1998.
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Internet
www.vam.ac.uk.vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/media/explore/index.php
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www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/hubert-de-givenchy-biography
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http://www.fashionencyclopedia.com/Fr-Gu/Givenchy-Hubert-de.html
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http://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-museum/museum-departments/curatorial-departments/the-costume-institute
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Notes de l'éditeur
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Hubert Givenchy was born February 21, 1927 in Beauvais, France.\n\nHis father came from a line of French/Italian aristocrats stemming all the way back to the 18th century. His mother’s family was full of people who had chosen artistic professions. His grandfather directed a tapestry factory and his great grandfather was a set designer for the Paris Opera. \n\nAfter his father died in 1930 of influenza, Givenchy and his brother were raised by his mother and his maternal grandmother. \n\nHe moved to Paris in 1944 to attend the Ecole des Beaux -Arts and was an apprentice under Jacques Fath, Robert Piguet, Lucien Lelong, and Elsa Schiaparelli. During this time he worked alongside Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain. \n\n\n\n\n
With the majority of men serving in the war, women were expected to pick up the roles and responsibilities left behind. They not only worked many factory jobs, but also came home to take care of household duties and children. When the war was over and men retuned home, the women’s role as a housewife was again re arranged by society.\n\nDuring the war, there was a shortage of nearly everything. Food, fabrics, and household goods all were rationed. With industrialization booming and rations dropped, expression through design and fashion was again accessible. Ready to wear fashions were being mass produced in factories so that more and more of the population could dress well for less. Women traded factory overalls and dungarees for ultra feminine dresses, hats, and gloves. \n
Givenchy debuted his first collection in 1952. It consisted of mainly blouse and skirt separates, which was unusual of the time. This collection was also characterized by the use of cheaper mens shirting fabrics due to financial constraints. However, the new way Givenchy used this material stood out and he quickly became a well known couturier. He named it later for Parisian model Bettina Graziani who greatly influenced and assisted Givenchy during the making of his first collection. \n\nTwo years later, he became the first designer to show a ready to wear line. He named it ‘Givenchy Universite’.\n\n\n\n\n
After the war ended and men returned to work, women were expected to dress much more feminine. The female figure was glorified. Most dresses emphasized curves with teeny tiny waistlines and full hips. This look was first made popular by Dior in 1947.\nBesides all the glitz and glamour in the fashions of that time, Givenchy was able to maintain his design philosophy of elegance and simplicity. \nIn 1957, he introduced the “sack” silhouette. Leaving behind the cinched waistline and corsets, he suggested women use the mystery of their bodies to showcase their beauty. Givenchy’s sack dress also started the trend for a straighter silhouette.\n\nHe was known for his modern, yet elegant designs.\n\n\n
In 1953, Givenchy and Balenciaga met by chance in New York. That was the beginnings of what would become a decades long friendship. Balenciaga gave Givenchy unlimited access to his fittings and work spaces. Both critiqued each other’s sketches and collections and shared the same vision of creating a beautiful, simple dress. Givenchy told WWD in 2007, “Balenciaga was my religion. There’s Balenciaga, and the good lord”.\n\nA year after Givenchy met his mentor, he met Audrey Hepburn. It too, was an accidental meeting that opened up a 40 year friendship. He thought Katherine Hepburn was coming in for a fitting and was surprised when Audrey Hepburn walked in wearing a tied up t-shirt, tight trousers, sandals, and a gondolier’s hat. He designed the academy award winning dress pictured above for her movie Sabrina. From then on, he designed most of her professional and personal wardrobes. One of the most famous dresses he designed for her was the little black dress she wore in the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Their rise in fame paralleled one another. \n
In 1956 Balenciaga and Givenchy announced they will only show their collections to the press the day before the delivery date to clients and buyers to reduce knock-offs of their pieces. THey were the first designers to start showing to both the press and buyers at the same time.\n\nIn 1973, he launched his first men's line, Gentlemen Givenchy. \n\nAfter he retired, he was succeeded by John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Julien Macdonald, and now, Ricardo Tisci. \n\nThough todays Givenchy hardly resembles the Givenchy couture of past years, the beauty and elegance the brand is known for still remains. \n\n \n\n\n\n\n
