For Givenchy, fashion was all about elegance

The Aristocrat of Fashion, this is how Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (Hubert de Givenchy) will always be remembered. He died on March 10, and his departure marks the end of an era. Hubert de Givenchy had started working with Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli before starting his own label. He considered Spanish couturier Cristobal Balenciaga a friend and mentor and he dressed Hollywood actresses Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, and Jacqueline Kennedy to name a few. Givenchy represented elegance at a time when fashion was all about beauty. He along with Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Balmain ensured that Paris became the epicentre of high fashion after the World War II. A true gentleman, he came from a noble family and at six-feet-six-inches, he was one of fashion’s most distinguished designers. Everything about him oozed refinement. The designer had famously said, “luxury is in each detail” had a practical side. His first collection “Les Separables” was showcased in 1952. The collection introduced the idea of mix-and-match to fashion. He introduced to the world that you could buy a blouse, trouser, skirt and jacket from one collection and then put them together. His collection included a white shirt called, “Bettina Blouse” inspired by his then muse, French model Bettina Graziani.

Of course, his most famous muse was Audrey Hepburn who sought the French couturier to design her clothes for her film Sabrina. This was before the release of her debut film Roman Holiday. Givenchy thought it was Katherine Hepburn who was calling to see him, and when Audrey appeared he almost turned her away. But one dinner

In the late 1980s, Givenchy sold his fashion house to fashion conglomerate LVMH but he stayed on as creative director until 1995.

later, he changed his mind and the close relationship between the two endured through Audrey’s life. He was the designer behind this style icon and worked with her on nearly all her films and on her personal wardrobe. Who can forget that ‘black dress’ from Breakfast at Tiffany’s when Holly Golightly (Audery Hepburn) walked down New York’s Fifth Avenue in oversized glasses, a simple column black dress and strands of pearls at breakfast time. (That dress later sold at a Christie’s Charity Auction for $923,187). While Givenchy may not have invented the ‘little black dress’, his version certainly shot it to fame. He is also credited for designing the first shirt-dress in 1954, which has now evolved into a sack-dress and is a staple of every woman’s wardrobe.

Both Jacqueline Kennedy and the Duchess of Windsor wore Givenchy dresses to their husband’s funerals and this perhaps speaks of the close relationship he shared with his clients. He believed in developing real relationships. Hepburn described the designer as a “personality maker”. For Sabrina, the film where Audrey Hepburn plays the chauffeur’s daughter who transforms from a gawky girl into a sophisticated woman, Givenchy created a dress with a square above the collarbone neckline. The actress was conscious of her slim figure and wanted bones to be seen. What he created became so popular that he called that style ‘décolleté Sabrina’. When a well-known film costume designer decided to take credit for this detail, Givenchy stayed silent, such was his elegance.

In the late 1980s, Givenchy sold his fashion house to fashion conglomerate — Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) but stayed on as creative director until 1995. Since his departure, designers such as John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Ricardo Tisco have been at the creative helm of the house with Britain’s Clare Waight Keller taking over in May last year. She just presented Givenchy’s Fall/Winter collection at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month called Night Noir. The House of Givenchy will live on, but Hubert de Givenchy’s demise at 91 signals the end of an era — of a time when fashion put elegance above everything else.

Sujata Assomull is the Consulting Fashion Editor at Khaleej Times