LIBERATED FEMININITY
Givenchy’s Artistic Director Clare Waight Keller presented a clean and confident line-up for the house’s spring/summer 2020 women’s collection. Peter Zewet reports from Seoul, South Korea.
TITLED “NY PARIS 1993,” Givenchy’s spring/ summer 2020 women’s collection highlighted artistic director Clare Waight Keller’s personal journey in fashion. The nineties, as it happens, was when the English designer started working in New York. Furthermore, that particular decade saw the rise of modern, American minimalism in fashion, contrasting with Paris’ couture-driven flamboyance that dominated the eighties.
“The whole idea of being stripped back, of being almost naked, was another way of sexualising women. It was interesting for me now to look back at that and see it in a different way,” Waight Keller said backstage at Givenchy’s show in Paris. “What was happening back then has led to where we are now”.
Hitting many of the season’s key trends, the resulting collection showcased an effortless aesthetic, punctuated with Waight Keller’s signature tailoring that translated beautifully for the modern women. The silhouette of the collection is a balance of voluminous pieces and expertly tailored separates. The colour palette celebrated the mood of summer with marigold and magenta, cerulean and emerald, matched with sandy neutrals. For prints, monochrome houndstooth was spotted accompanied by a universe of abstract florals from around the world. The florals come to life in ultra-saturated pigment prints of chintz, pomegranates and nasturtiums. Materials used in the collection ranges from crisp poplin, canvas and taffeta to luxurious silks, jacquard and embellished lace. A statement material in the collection, as a nod to sustainability, is vintage denim from the nineties as an upcycled fabric, “pointing to a conscious future.”
With a play of billowing shapes as well as structural and architectural concepts, the collection boast a rich selection of wardrobe items, from blouses, over-skirts, slip dresses and sun dresses to Bermuda shorts, slim jackets and relaxed pants. Rather than designing with a specific Givenchy woman in mind, Waight Keller prefers to celebrate individuality, stating: “I’m actually very diverse in the way I dress, and I think the character part of who we are is something we should celebrate.”.
For its spring/summer 2020 accessories collection, Givenchy introduces a new star, the “ID93” handbag. Named after the era of minimalism and flowing shapes, the ID93 features supple construction with knot details, cousu retourné straps that are twisted, braided and stitched by hand, and a 2G signature enveloped in ultra-soft calf leather. This roomy and functional bag is inspired by Waight Keller’s jet setting lifestyle. Other bags in the collection include the return of the Mystic bag and the Bond bag. For footwear, calf boots feature a sprayed wooden block heel whilst sandals and square mules are raised on laser-cut radial columns.
Putting a tougher spin on nineties fashion sensibilities, while giving the freedom of one’s personal style through a rich variety of offerings, Waight Keller empowers the Givenchy woman with her spring/summer 2020 collection.