Digging deep into Givenchy’s archives inspires a dream debut
Clare Waight Keller’s couture collection for Givenchy was notable for three reasons Remarkably, it was her first ever couture collection. It was Givenchy’s first couture collection in eight years and the first time it has had a woman at its helm (a British one of that). It also happened to be a highlight of the week. For some, it was the highlight.
Couture must grapple with all manner of issues these days – the economics of running a slow-delivery business that’s the opposite of see now, wear now, not least among them. But perhaps its most pressing challenge is trying to figure out what kind of sex appeal it wants to project in these charged times.
The red carpet, is, after all, couture’s chief window to the world. Even if most dresses are either substantially remodelled to make them more actress-friendly, or designed from scratch, the couture shows are a starting point.
For those who dress the stars, Givenchy could be the answer – Nicole Kidman, in one of her more successful outings, wore a Clare Waight Keller designed black gown to the Golden Globes two weeks ago.
This collection was largely black (and white). Waight Keller has made an impressive and fast conversion to the Givenchy mindset. Tailoring was quietly impeccable, no tricksy, statement shoulders on her black jackets, merely perfectly proportioned ones. Volume was architectural and controlled, never fluttery.
From the opening looks – a series of tiered or full skirts and dresses, peeking under sculptural black jackets featuring different versions of a shawl neckline – Waight Keller flexed her impressive sense of balance, both in terms of proportions and sensibility. She wasn’t presenting an edgy, off-level of taste, as so many designers do, but a series of options.
She had dug deep into the Givenchy archives from the 1950s, when Hubert de Givenchy was still influenced by Cristobal Balenciaga, his mentor.
Reworking proportions and using new Japanese fabrics along with classic couture favourites such as faille and duchess satin, she produced a collection that was relevant to today’s woman. Beaded column dresses in pewter seemed far more in keeping with the current mood than blingier options. Feather-lined coats were less obvious than feather trims. Tuxedo and rubber-look trenches, worn open, over white tiered and pleated gowns added another 2018 touch. Intelligent archiving rather than slavish homage, this was a tremendously assured debut. If anything had overwhelmed her, she said later, “It was the limitless scope. But once you start to find your passions in a house, it becomes easier. You can focus”.
It was the only time this week I heard fashion editors (as opposed to billionaire clients with hermetically sealed lives) express anything like longing.