To Audrey with love: A designer’s tribute
One of the fashion world’s greatest platonic love stories almost never came to pass, when in the 1950s French couturier Hubert de Givenchy at first refused a request to design for Audrey Hepburn.
“When Audrey came and asked me to make her dresses for the film Sabrina, I didn't know who she was. I was expecting Katharine Hepburn,” Givenchy said at a press conference for the opening of a new exhibition of his creations in The Netherlands.
“She arrived looking so graceful, so young and sparkling, and dressed like a young girl today, in cotton trousers, ballerina flats and T-shirt which showed off her belly-button, carrying a straw gondolier's hat,” the designer recalled.
“But I wasn’t really in any condition to make a major wardrobe for Sabrina and I told her, ‘No, Mademoiselle, I can't dress you.’”
Hepburn was not to be dissuaded and invited Givenchy to dinner. By the end of that meal in 1953, the aristocratic French designer had fallen under the spell of the petite actor. “She persuaded me, how lucky I was to have accepted,” Givenchy said.
A creative friendship began between the two, which lasted till the British film star died of cancer in 1993.
CELEBRATING THE STYLE ICON
The retrospective of Givenchy's designs for his friend and style icon entitled To Audrey with Love has just opened at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, and lasts until March. It is the designer's homage to his muse and Givenchy has selected many of the 100 outfits featured in the collection, a few of which have never been seen in public before, in what he calls a “journey through her wardrobe.” In the 1954 romantic comedy Sabrina, Hepburn appeared alongside then screen heartthrob Humphrey Bogart, and in one key screen wore a sophisticated, floating ivory ball dress edged in black with embroidered black flowers, a Givenchy creation.
Givenchy was to remain by her side for many of her most iconic films such as the 1961 classic Breakfast at Tiffany's, Charade in 1963. Some of his most memorable outfits from those films are on show.
Using everything from satin to tulle and silk, his imagination flourished as he designed for Hepburn both on and off-screen. The exhibition has taken a year to put together, with Givenchy, now 89, overseeing every detail, and hoping to pay tribute to his muse’s elegance and style. It also includes a collection of beautiful jewellery, accessories, scarves and hats, as well as sketches, drawings, photos and film stills.
“Audrey will never go out of fashion. She is current. And her image continues to amaze us,” said Givenchy.
THE RETROSPECTIVE OF GIVENCHY’S DESIGNS FOR HIS FRIEND AND STYLE ICON TITLED TO AUDREY WITH LOVE HAS JUST OPENED AT THE GEMEENTEMUSEUM IN THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS