Hubert de Givenchy
Hubert de Givenchy | |
---|---|
![]() Givenchy in 1978 | |
Born | Beauvais, France | 20 February 1927
Died | 10 March 2018 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France | (aged 91)
Education | École des Beaux-Arts |
Known for | Little black dress |
Label | Givenchy |
Partner | Philippe Venet |
Relatives | James de Givenchy (nephew) |
Awards | Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (1983)[1] Medal of l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1992)[1] |
Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (pronounced [ybɛʁ də ʒivɑ̃ʃi]; 20 February 1927 – 10 March 2018) was a French aristocrat and fashion designer who founded the luxury fashion and perfume house of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the personal and professional wardrobe of Audrey Hepburn and clothing for Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1970.[2]
Early life
[edit]Hubert James Taffin de Givenchy was born on 20 February 1927 in Beauvais, Oise,[3][4][5] into a Protestant noble family.[6] He was the younger son of Lucien Taffin de Givenchy, Marquis of Givenchy (1888–1930), and his wife, the former Béatrice ("Sissi") Badin (1888–1976). The Taffin de Givenchy family, which traces its roots to Venice, Italy (the original name of the family was Taffini), was ennobled in 1713, at which time the head of the family became Marquis of Givenchy.[7] His elder brother, Jean-Claude de Givenchy (1925–2009), inherited the family's marquessate and eventually became the president of Parfums Givenchy.[8] A third sibling, Beatrice, was born in 1928 but died shortly after birth.[a]
After his father's death from influenza in 1930, he was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother,[5] Marguerite Dieterle Badin (1853–1940), the widow of Jules Badin (1843–1919), an artist who was the owner and director of the historic Gobelins Manufactory and Beauvais tapestry factories. Artistic professions ran in the extended Badin family. Givenchy's maternal great-grandfather, Jules Dieterle, was a set designer who also created designs for the Beauvais factory, including a set of 13 designs for the Elysée Palace. One of his great-great-grandfathers designed sets for the Paris Opera.[9]
He moved to Paris at the age of 17, and he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts.[4][5]
Career
[edit]Givenchy's first designs were done for Jacques Fath in 1945.[4][10] Later he did designs for Robert Piguet and Lucien Lelong (1946) – working alongside the still-unknown Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior.[4][10] From 1947 to 1951 he worked for the avantgarde designer Elsa Schiaparelli.[4][10]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Audrey_Hepburn_Tiffany%27s.jpg/220px-Audrey_Hepburn_Tiffany%27s.jpg)
In 1952, he opened his own design house at the Plaine Monceau in Paris,[4][5] concentrating on versatile separates in shirting cotton.[11] Later, he named his first collection "Bettina Graziani" for Paris's top model at the time.[4] His style was marked by innovation, contrary to the more conservative designs by Dior. At 25, he was the youngest designer of the progressive Paris fashion scene. His first collections were characterized by the use of rather cheap fabrics for financial reasons, but they always piqued curiosity through their design.[12]
Audrey Hepburn, later the most prominent proponent of Givenchy's fashion, and Givenchy first met in 1953 during the shoot of Sabrina.[13][14] He went on to design the black dress she wore in Breakfast at Tiffany's.[13][14] He also developed his first perfume collection for her (L'Interdit and Le de Givenchy).[4][5] Hepburn was the face of that fragrance. This was the first time a star was the face of a fragrance's advertising campaign.[15]
At that time, he met his idol, Cristóbal Balenciaga.[5][16] Givenchy sought inspiration not only from the lofty settings of haute couture but also in such avant-garde environments as Limbo, the store in Manhattan's East Village.[17]
Givenchy's notable clients also included Donna Marella Agnelli, Lauren Bacall,[3] Ingrid Bergman, Countess Mona von Bismarck, Countess Cristiana Brandolini d'Adda, Sunny von Bülow, Renata Tebaldi, Maria Callas, Capucine, Marlene Dietrich,[3] Daisy Fellowes, Greta Garbo, Gloria Guinness, Dolores Guinness, Aimee de Heeren,[13] Jane Holzer, Grace Kelly,[13] Princess Salimah Aga Khan, Rachel Lambert Mellon, Sophia Loren, Jeanne Moreau, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis,[13] Empress Farah Pahlavi, Babe Paley, Lee Radziwill, Hope Portocarrero, Comtesse Jacqueline de Ribes, Nona Hendryx, Baroness Pauline de Rothschild, Frederica von Stade, Baroness Gaby Van Zuylen van Nijevelt, Diana Vreeland, Betsey Whitney, Baroness Sylvia de Waldner, the Duchess of Windsor, Haitian first lady Michèle Duvalier and Jayne Wrightsman.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Hubert_de_Givenchy_met_mannequins_op_de_Internationale_Bloemententoonstelling_Flora_1953_in_Heemstede_01.jpg/220px-Hubert_de_Givenchy_met_mannequins_op_de_Internationale_Bloemententoonstelling_Flora_1953_in_Heemstede_01.jpg)
During the 1950s and early 1960s, he was considered one of the top couturiers.[18][19] He debuted his prêt-à-porter collection in 1954,[5][16] at which time his designs were considered to be both comfortably wearable and well-shaped enough to have "hanger appeal".[20][21] In 1955, he gained acclaim with an easy-fitting sweater style[22] and a sleek, open-sided pump.[23] He is also credited with introducing in 1955 the prophetic shift dress[24][25] and with introducing in 1957 the fuller but tapering "sack/sac dress,"[26] also called the chemise dress, soon copied by Christian Dior for his 1957 Fuseau/Spindle line.[27][28] The same year, he felt confident enough with his stature to present his collections weeks after almost all other designers showed theirs, requiring a second trip to Paris for the press.[29] He created the iconic 'balloon coat' and the 'baby doll' dress in 1958,[30][31] making innovative contributions to the geometric seaming and experimental construction becoming prevalent at the time.[32][33][34] His princess line of 1959 was also very influential.[35] In 1969,[36] a men's line was created.[5]
While his premiere collection in the early 1950s had consisted of separates, they had still conformed to the rather dressy norms of the day. In the second half of the 1960s and into the 1970s, with the rise of much more casual styles[37][38][39][40] like miniskirts[41] and jeans,[42][43][44] a societal rejection of materialism,[45][46][47][48][49] and the decline in importance of haute couture,[50][51][52][53] Givenchy's designs remained rather formal and dressy[54][55] and he became much less influential, seen by some as a behind-the-times designer for wealthy women "of a certain age."[56][57][58] There were signs of this change in position as early as 1963, when he rejected the fashion world's adoption of multiple heights of women's boots,[59] sticking instead to staid pumps, and attempted to reintroduce a fitted princess silhouette when waistless shift and trapeze shapes were the strongest trend.[60] During the miniskirt era, his hems remained longer than most,[61][62] only rising to micromini length in the early seventies, when short lengths had come to seem the conservative position.[63] He also joined 1971's brief vogue for hot pants[64][65] and showed fabrics inspired by Mark Rothko.[66]
With the return to dresses that accompanied 1974's Big Look trend,[67][68] he began to be taken a little more seriously again,[69][70] and with the return to formality and conspicuous-consumption,[71][72] hats-gloves-suits-and-big-shoulders glamour reintroduced for fall of 1978[73][74] and continuing into the 1980s, Givenchy entered the upper echelons of fashion's status quo once again,[75] joining designers like Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent,[76][77] and Oscar de la Renta[78] in showing shoulder-padded versions[79] of the chemise dress,[80][81][82][83] sharply tailored suits,[84][85] grand entrance ballgowns,[86][87][88] and cocktail dresses[89] revived from the 1940s and 1950s.[90][91] While no longer the innovator he was in the 1950s,[92] his work was very popular and perfectly in line with the mood of the era's wealthy.[93][94][95][96] He even joined other cocktail-set designers in showing the occasional above-the-knee skirt,[97][98] newly acceptable to him now that it was dressy-looking instead of 1960s-casual,[99] a tendency that increased during the eighties.[100]
From 1976 through 1987 in the US, the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company offered a Givenchy Edition of its Continental Mark series (1976[101] to 1982[102]) and Lincoln Continental (1982[103] to 1987) automobiles, beginning with the 1976 Continental Mark IV coupe, continuing with the 1977[104]-79[105] Mark V coupe, and ending with the 1982 Lincoln Mark VI and the 1987 Lincoln Continental sedan.
The House of Givenchy was split in 1981; the perfume line went to Veuve Clicquot, and the fashion branch was acquired by LVMH in 1989.[106] As of today, LVMH owns Parfums Givenchy as well.[4]
In 1988, he organized a retrospective of his work at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.[10]
Later life
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Tombe_Givenchy.jpg/170px-Tombe_Givenchy.jpg)
Givenchy retired from fashion design in 1995.[13]
Givenchy resided at the Château du Jonchet, a listed historic castle in Romilly-sur-Aigre, Eure-et-Loir, near Paris.[5] In his retirement, he focused on collecting 17th and 18th-century bronze and marble sculptures.[14] In July 2010, he spoke at the Oxford Union.[4][5] From 8 to 14 September 2014, during the Biennale des Antiquaires, he organized a private sale exhibition at Christie's in Paris featuring, artwork by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, Jacques-Louis David, and Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, etc.[107]
In January 2007, the French Post Office issued postage stamps for Valentine's Day designed by Givenchy. In October 2014, a retrospective exhibition featuring ninety-five of his designed pieces took place at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, Spain.[13][108]
His longtime partner was fashion designer Philippe Venet.[109]
Hubert de Givenchy died in his sleep at the Renaissance chateau near Paris on Saturday 10 March 2018.[110][111][112][113][114] He was 91[115] and was buried in Passy Cemetery in Paris.
Bibliography
[edit]- Françoise Mohrt, The Givenchy Style (1998), Assouline. ISBN 2-84323-107-8
- Pamela Clarke Keogh, Hubert de Givenchy (introduction): Audrey style (1999), Aurum Press. ISBN 1-85410-645-7
- Jean-Noël Liaut: Hubert de Givenchy : Entre vies et légendes (2000), Editions Grasset & Fasquelle. ISBN 2-246-57991-0
Notes
[edit]- ^ According to the family grave in Passy Cemetery.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Mohrt, Françoise. The Givenchy Style. Assouline, 1998. ISBN 2-84323-107-8, p. 204.
- ^ Zilkha, Bettina (2004). Ultimate Style – The Best of the Best Dressed List. p. 116. ISBN 2-84323-513-8.
- ^ a b c Hubert de Givenchy at FMD
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Hubert de Givenchy: 'It was always my dream to be a dress designer', The Independent, 7 June 2010
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Connie Roff, Who's Who: Hubert de Givenchy, Vogue, 11 November 2011
- ^ "Le couturier Hubert de Givenchy est mort à l'âge de 91 ans". Le Monde (in French). 12 March 2018.
- ^ Jougla VI, 256, numéro 32324.
- ^ New York Times,Hubert de Givenchy Dies at 91; Fashion Pillar of Romantic Elegance, by Eric Wilson, March 12 2018
- ^ (fr)Encyclopedie.picardie.fr, Givenchy, Hubert de
- ^ a b c d Rose-Mary Turk, Givenchy : For 36 years, He Has Reigned as a Prince of Fashion; an Unusual Retrospective in L.A. Will Show Why, The Los Angeles Times, 28 October 1988
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1946-1956". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 189. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
[Givenchy's 1952 debut collection] was shown in cotton shirting and consisted of mix-and-match blouses, skirts and trousers for a casual, yet impeccable, wardrobe. As Givenchy says, 'I think it was quite a novelty ... to have everything separate. I used cotton because it is a simple and true fabric.' He also wanted to offer a contrast to the formal clothes of Dior, and he had little money.
- ^ "Working on a tight budget, Givenchy served up the floor-length skirts and country chic blouses in raw white cotton materials normally reserved for fittings." "French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy has died at the age of 91", News Corp Australia Network, 13 March 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ashifa Kassam, Hubert de Givenchy needled by collapse of haute couture, The Guardian, 22 October 2014.
- ^ a b c Mary M. Lane, Hubert de Givenchy Remembers Audrey Hepburn, The Wall Street Journal, 4 September 2012.
- ^ History of the House of Givenchy, givenchy.com. Accessed 8 December 2023.
- ^ a b Lauren Milligan, "Hubert De Givenchy on Fashion Today", Vogue.co.uk, 20 October 2014.
- ^ Vogue, 15 February 1966.
- ^ "Givenchy, Once Off Pace, Strides Ahead". The New York Times: 48. 23 July 1974. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
During the nineteen-fifties and into the sixties, he scaled the couture heights a half‐step behind Balenciaga....
- ^ "Paris Sketchbook Highlights Recent Collections of Balenciaga and Givenchy". The New York Times: 10. 1 September 1958. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
After Cristobal Balencaiga, Hubert de Givenchy is considered by many as the second most important fashion designer in Paris today.
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1946–1956". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 189. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
[C]lothes from Balenciaga, Chanel, Givenchy and Lanvin had to be worn for their charm to be realized – one was conscious of the body moving underneath them.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1955". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 239. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
...[D]esigners of clothes with body and shape of their own, clothes popular with manufacturers and shops for their 'hanger appeal' are Dior, Givenchy, Balmain and Fath...
- ^ Mohr, Berta. "Fashions". The New Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia Yearbook 1955. Wilfred Funk, Incorporated. pp. 133–134.
...Givenchy made the single biggest contribution [to an easier-to-wear 'straightened' silhouette]...by showing long, straight, dressy but bulky sweaters without a shred of indentation at the waist....[A] goodly segment of the population could be observed wearing adaptations of...the baggy sweater...
- ^ Mohr, Berta. "Fashions". The New Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia Yearbook 1955. Wilfred Funk, Incorporated. p. 134.
Leading style – again Givenchy-launched – had a pointed toe and was known as a 'disappearing pump' because it was cut clear down to the sole at both sides, where it seemed to disappear.
- ^ Blackwell, Betsy Talbot. "Fashion". The American Peoples Encyclopedia Yearbook 1956: Events and Personalities of 1955. Chicago, Illinois, USA: Spencer Press, Inc. p. 322.
The shift, a looser, free-falling version of the sheath, was introduced by Givenchy in the fall and winter [1955] Paris collections.
- ^ Mohr, Berta. "Fashions". The New Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia Yearbook 1955. Wilfred Funk, Incorporated. pp. 133–134.
France's young Hubert de Givenchy...[showed]...his 'nothing silhouette,' a shift dress hanging straight from shoulder to hem, touching the body...only at...the hips....[A] goodly segment of the population could be observed wearing adaptations of...the gunnysack dress.
- ^ "Fall Fashion Trends from Abroad, Paris: Givenchy Changes Body's Proportions". The New York Times: F46. 27 August 1957. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
Givenchy's day dresses...gave the impression of a full sack of fabric hanging from the shoulders, whittling down toward the hem.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (14 September 1979). "It Was Givenchy's Hour Again". The New York Times: 6. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Along with Balenciaga, he introduced the chemise in the summer of 1957.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1956-57". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 242. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
Christian Dior's last collection ... a refinement of Givenchy's 'sack' called the 'spindle' or 'chemmy dress'
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1957". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 248. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Balenciaga and Givenchy decided to emphasize their exclusivity by showing their collections between a fortnight and a month after all the other couturiers. From now on, therefore, the press had to return to Paris to see these important shows.
- ^ The iconic Givenchy balloon coat
- ^ The 'baby doll' dress [https://web.archive.org/web/20151124170412/https://www.givenchy.com/en/baby-doll-dress-0 Archived 24 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1958". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 252. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Givenchy showed a reversible coat with a large 'funnel' collar that required perfect cut to prevent it looking awkward. Such experimental cutting, which challenged accepted lines and silhouettes, became more widespread as the fifties moved towards their end.
- ^ Howell, Georgina (1978). "1958". In Vogue: Sixty Years of Celebrities and Fashion from British Vogue. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books Ltd. p. 246. ISBN 0-14-00-4955-X.
Originating with Balenciaga and Givenchy there is the 'high-rise' waist, cinching the ribs above an almond-shaped skirt, gathered over the hips and narrowed at the hem.
- ^ "Fall Fashion Trends from Abroad, Paris: Givenchy Changes Body's Proportions". The New York Times: F46. 27 August 1957. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
Givenchy's women looked like geometrical designs, abstract figures...
- ^ Donovan, Carrie (27 January 1960). "Fashion Trends Abroad, Paris: Designers Vary the Waistline". The New York Times: 28. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
The Givenchy look of last fall is sweeping Paris this spring....[Crahay's and Cardin's] inspiration is...that young, feminine, easily fitted princess silhouette...that Givenchy invented.
- ^ Givenchy Gentleman: prêt-à-porter for men Archived 24 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (6 February 1971). "The Romans Didn't Waste Any Time About Shorts". The New York Times: 18. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Until 10 years ago [1961], street clothes were very formal. Now that's all changed.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (13 January 1978). "Fashion: A Look at the Simple Truth". The New York Times: B4. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
With a generation of office workers and executives going to work in T-shirts and blue jeans, formality in fashion was becoming a thing of the past....[I]t is possible for a woman to go anywhere, including black‐tie dinners, in a shirt and pants....Simplicity is the rule, and there's no need for a woman to clutter her closets with a lot of clothes...It is part of the simplification of life that comes under the heading of modernity. So is the fact that most clothes are soft and unstructured as well as interchangeable.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (10 February 1976). "Fashion's Fresh Approach: Free‐Flowing, Elegant and Gay". The New York Times: 32. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[T]he new clothes seem natural, as if they weren't designed at all, but just happened.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (27 February 1983). "The Directions of the Innovators". The New York Times: 132. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[F]ar more important was the character of the clothes, always casual, always relaxed and, more often than not, looking untouched by a designer's hand....[G]uests on luxury yachts cavorted in them rather than the couture clothes to which they were accustomed.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (25 August 1974). "The Big Look". The New York Times: 285. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
Starting with the swinging young in London in the early nineteen‐sixties, the miniskirt spread to Paris and then to [the United States] where season after season matrons and manufacturers gleefully subtracted an inch or two from hemlines.
- ^ "Fashion View". The New York Times: SM6. 30 December 1979. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
Pants and jeans took over the scene...[T]hey suited the quiet, realistic mood of the time...Pants also carried with them the important impression of ease, of not trying too hard, and of freedom — crucial preoccupations of the early 70's...
- ^ Evans, Eli N. (24 August 1975). "The Emperor's Fall Clothes". The New York Times: 213. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[J]eans have invaded ballet, theater and gallery openings with such assertion that everyone else feels overdressed.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (21 July 1972). "...and in Rome, Valentino Regards Pants as Passé". The New York Times: 20. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
Fashion designers [and s]torekeepers...fondly recall the time when women traveled with steamer trunks filled with clothes instead of with backpacks, when ladies wore white gloves and hats, and blue jeans were for farmers and laborers.
- ^ Ehrenreich, Barbara and John (2020). "Death of a Yuppie Dream". Had I Known. Twelve. pp. 293–295. ISBN 978-1455543670. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
In the 1960s,...materialism was briefly out of style.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (16 September 1968). "Saint Laurent Has a New Name for Madison Avenue – Rive Gauche". The New York Times: 54. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
...[Yves Saint Laurent] mused on the changes in fashion since he went to work for Christian Dior...'That was the time when everybody wanted to look very rich,' he said. 'Now [1968] I think it is the contrary....'
- ^ Bender, Marylin (9 December 1969). "The Fashion Decade: As Hems Rose, Barriers Fell". The New York Times: 63.
It was a decade in which the...rich stole their fads from hippies who rejected materialism.
- ^ Cecil, Mirabel (9 March 1976). "On the Art of Being Chic Though Shabby". The New York Times: 62. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[I]t has become smart to be shabby, to make do with what you have. It is no longer smart to be affluent, or rather, to be seen to be affluent....Shabby has long been chic in dress...Shabby Chic is part of the denim/patchwork vogue....[T]he smartest people were...in their denims with ragged edges and carefully sewn on patches...They wore their jeans until they were on their last legs, and their T‐shirts until the slogans had virtually faded into oblivion....
- ^ "Fashion View". The New York Times: SM6. 30 December 1979. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
Take the anti‐establishment 60's...: the untamed manes of the flower children, the faded jeans of the affluence‐rejecting hippies, the discarded bras of the women's liberation movement, the knee‐freeing skirts..., and the street‐imitating gear of the radical chic...share...an antifashion attitude that became...powerful and pervasive...
- ^ "1966: Saint Laurent Rive Gauche". Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
In the 1960s, society had evolved in such a way that the norms imposed by haute couture had become obsolete. A growing number of women wanted to be able to dress themselves elegantly and affordably.
- ^ "Designer Provides Basset-Hound Droop in Ready-to-Wear". The New York Times: 30. 24 January 1964.
Among certain fashionable young people in Paris, the couture is outmoded and ready-to‐wear...is the rage.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (4 February 1974). "Why Nobody's Paying Much Attention to Spring Couture". The New York Times: 24. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
Why has the couture lost its touch? Because it is a geriatric institution, having been invented around the turn of the century by men such as Worth and Poiret and is now in its 75th year. Because its customers are a similar age. Because It is losing its nerve. Because it is terrified by competition from the ready‐to‐wear...
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1968". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 306. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Balenciaga retired from the couture this year. His parting remark was, 'The life that supported the couture is finished. Real couture is a luxury which is just impossible to do anymore'.
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (2 August 1965). "St. Laurent and Givenchy". The New York Times: 27. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
Hubert de Givenchy's collection...was considered too long, too dull and too heavy. It was described as a collection in which 'old ideas kept coming back without looking as pretty as they once did'.
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (4 August 1967). "Givenchy's Show: 2 Hours of Beautiful Clothes with No Gimmicks". The New York Times: 35.
What's new at Givenchy? That is the question that people ask, and the honest answer is that nothing is new.
- ^ "Givenchy, Once Off Pace, Strides Ahead". The New York Times: 48. 24 July 1974. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
...[R]ecently, he has been considered the designer to the geriatric crowd.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (31 July 1975). "Applause Meter Gets a Workout at Saint Laurent". The New York Times: 18. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Hubert de Givenchy has his fashion followers...They tend...to be 'women of a certain age'...
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (31 January 1970). "Givenchy, 1970: The Approach is Positive, the Look is Softer". The New York Times: 22. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
For the last few seasons, some of the Givenchy critics have carped that inside his strict, carved shapes was a middle‐aged matron who would never get out.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (1 August 1963). "Givenchy's Silhouette is Curved and Fitted, Skirt Slightly Longer". The New York Times: 30. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
After a plethora of boots and heavy, textured stockings in most of the Paris fashion houses,...there was not a boot or textured stocking to be seen at Givenchy.
- ^ Peterson, Patricia (1 August 1963). "Givenchy's Silhouette is Curved and Fitted, Skirt Slightly Longer". The New York Times: 30. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
Hubert de Givenchy's collection...may change the current fashion direction away from loose fitting clothes back to fitted ones....The new Givenchy fit is a princess line with a strongly indented waist...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (30 August 1966). "Closer Fit from Givenchy and Balenciaga". The New York Times: 45. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
...[S]hort...to Givenchy [is] just above the knee...
- ^ Emerson, Gloria (31 January 1970). "Givenchy, 1970: The Approach is Positive, the Look is Softer". The New York Times: 22. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
...[S]kirts are now longer and his always have been.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (30 July 1971). "For Daring, There's Givenchy". The New York Times: 14. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
...Givenchy's micromini dresses...show a lot of leg, though they are concealed by such things as a purple leather coat to the floor.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (30 July 1971). "For Daring, There's Givenchy". The New York Times: 14. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Givenchy shows hot pants.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (28 January 1971). "Givenchy: Elegance and More". The New York Times: 41. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Givenchy tucks shorts under his skinny daytime suits and dresses and sometimes sends the shorts out alone unabashed.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (28 January 1971). "Givenchy: Elegance and More". The New York Times: 41. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
One of his daring ventures was to have Sache, an esteemed French fabric designer, adapt the very abstract paintings of Rothko to thin evening silks.
- ^ Sweetinburgh, Thelma. "Fashion and Dress". 1975 Britannica Book of the Year: Events of 1974. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 300. ISBN 0-85229-303-8.
...[I]n the fall [of 1974] the dress finally reentered the scene. With volume at the height of fashion, it looked very different....often like an overdress or a smock, cut with deep kimono armholes and hardly any seams...
- ^ Finley, Ruth (1 June 1974). "American Fall RTW: The Extreme vs. The Salable". Fashion International. II (9). New York, NY, USA: FI Publications Inc.: 1.
The dress is back...soft, supple, motionful [sic], often reflecting the influence of Jean Muir and Kenzo, loose enough to accommodate a turtleneck sweater underneath...
- ^ "Givenchy, Once Off Pace, Strides Ahead". The New York Times: 48. 24 July 1974. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Givenchy's yokes...gave blouses, jackets and coats a smock‐like shape that was equally good belted or left loose....He shows coats with cape backs...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (15 August 1976). "Fashion: Paris Report". The New York Times: 179. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Hubert de Givenchy loosened up a bit, turning out a peasant style or two.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (3 August 1982). "For Every Trend in Paris, There's a Countertrend". The New York Times: A16. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Designers such as Yves Saint Laurent and Hubert de Givenchy simply picked dramatic traditional shapes, made them in the most opulent fabrics and embellished them with furs, feathers and jewels.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (1 January 1982). "Fashion". The 1982 World Book Year Book: Events of 1981. World Book, Inc. p. 309. ISBN 0-7166-0482-5.
In Paris, the couture or made-to-order part of the fashion industry brought out dazzingly extravagant collections...
- ^ Halasz, Robert (ed.). "Fashion". The Illustrated Columbia Encyclopedia Year Book 1979: Events of 1978. Chicago, Illinois, USA: Standard Educational Corporation. p. 315.
The Big Look is out but big shoulders are in...Slim skirts and ankle-length pegged pants were shown with...padded tops...Dressy was in and gypsies, peasants, and hippies were definitely out.
- ^ "Fashion View". The New York Times: SM6. 30 December 1979. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
In Paris, the body‐conscious trend took a civilized turn with Givenchy's elegantly tapered suits...The brisk, capable look of the wide-shouldered silhouette suited the mood of women who wanted to convey just that image: in control and 'together'.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (14 September 1979). "It Was Givenchy's Hour Again". The New York Times: 6. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
The overflow audience...cheered almost from the first style...The designer was pleased by the enthusiastic reception to his work...'I have had a second "jeunesse" '...It is not that he has changed his style so much, but that fashion has come around again to his basic concepts, he explained....'Suddenly, women want to look neat again, pure. That is my style.... The circle has returned in my direction,' Givenchy said. 'I am very grateful'.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (19 October 1979). "At Paris Showings, Both Creativity and Confusion". The New York Times: A20. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Yves Saint Laurent and Hubert de Givenchy produced the best collections.
- ^ Donovan, Carrie (11 September 1983). "Fashion View from Paris Couture". The New York Times: 132. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Givenchy's [clothes] are always the essence of luxury, even though nowadays they often contain some outfits strikingly similar to those Saint Laurent showed a season before.
- ^ Cunningham, Bill (1 September 1989). "To the Future Through the Past". Details. VIII (3). New York, NY: Details Publishing Corp.: 219. ISSN 0740-4921.
Both Valentino and de la Renta showed collections in the formal rich society-lady style.
- ^ Donovan, Carrie (31 March 1985). "Fashion: Feminine Flourishes". The New York Times: 80. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
Karl Lagerfeld..., Yves Saint Laurent, Emanuel Ungaro and Hubert de Givenchy...continued with their versions of the rather aggressive broad-shouldered silhouette...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (31 July 1979). "Couture Forecasts Shape of Clothes to Come". The New York Times: C5. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
...[T]he prevailing shape is the chemise....[T]he shoulders of the chemise are padded...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (19 October 1979). "At Paris Showings, Both Creativity and Confusion". The New York Times: A20. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Givenchy proposed a tapering chemise.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (25 October 1983). "Looking for Keys to Fashion Trends". The New York Times: A32. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...Hubert de Givenchy...returned to the...chemise shapes promulgated by Balenciaga in 1957....Current versions have wider shoulders and shorter skirts than those of Balenciaga, but still offer a reprise on an earlier style.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (31 January 1984). "Saint Laurent Dominates Couture". The New York Times: C12. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Givenchy added innumerable versions of the chemise dress, a category of fashion he has made his own...
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1983". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 287. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Sharp, daytime tailoring...distinguished the collections of Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Valentino and Ungaro. Suits were styled with wide revers and shoulders above tiny, cinched waists.
- ^ "Peplums and Picasso". The Washington Post. 26 July 1979. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
...[T]he hourglass shape at Christian Dior and Givenchy, with broad-shouldered jackets with set-in sleeves with fullness at the top, and tiny waists...
- ^ Mulvagh, Jane (1988). "1979". Vogue History of 20th Century Fashion. London, England: Viking, the Penguin Group. p. 368. ISBN 0-670-80172-0.
Paris evening dresses were far from simple:...Givenchy and Lancetti showed bustles...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (5 February 1985). "Paris Couture: Living Up to Tradition of Excellence". The New York Times: A22. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Beaded evening dresses are available at houses like Givenchy, which specializes in them, for around $10,000.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (26 March 1985). "Seductive Dresses by Gres; Lagerfeld Brightens Chanel". The New York Times: A22. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[B]all gowns took over the evening scene...
- ^ Luther, Marylou (1 August 1987). "Paris When It Dazzles". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
...[Givenchy's] short black puckered velvet cocktail dresses electrified with oversize shocking pink bows...
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (29 October 1978). "Fashion Notes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
There were nifty Kitty Foyle-like dresses [a 1940s-style short-sleeve dress] at Givenchy...
- ^ Luther, Marylou (1 August 1987). "Paris When It Dazzles". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
There were the Audrey Hepburn reprises everyone hoped for from Givenchy...
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (27 July 1985). "Givenchy's Modern Classics". The New York Times: 48. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Though he broke no new ground and certainly showed no wild clothes, his collection had a good sense of freshness and a youthful vigor.
- ^ Cunningham, Bill (1 March 1987). "The Collections Spring Forward". Details. V (8). New York, NY: Details Publishing Corp.: 103. ISSN 0740-4921.
...[H]istorical...revivals...celebrated Proustian opulence for the new rich of the Eighties.
- ^ Hyde, Nina S. (29 April 1980). "Fashion's Opulent Autumn". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Bill Blass insists that in spite of the state of the economy, his customers want rich, opulent clothes. So he has made his things a little richer, a little more opulent.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (4 August 1981). "Couture: Styles of Splendor". The New York Times: C6. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
There is no attempt to mimic street fashions, which the couture tried during the miniskirt years. There isn't too much concern with practicality. If the bouffant skirts with their layers of petticoats can't fit into a compact car, it is understood that their wearers travel by limousine. If the jeweled dresses require a lady's maid and a bodyguard, it is assumed that they are available....Givenchy calls his dresses Proustian...
- ^ Duka, John (28 December 1982). "Notes on Fashion". The New York Times: B10. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
The Reagan influence wafted through the major cities like heavy perfume. Where the young had once been the apple of the fashion eye, the elders took over, wearing expensive suits and ball gowns. And youth followed the example. In its way, nothing said more about fashion than all those 15-year-olds in wing collars and black ties swimming like well-bred minnows in the wake of stately taffeta.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (14 September 1979). "It Was Givenchy's Hour Again". The New York Times: 6. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
Only one dress was greeted with dead silence: a printed satin, shirred up the center, that bared the knees. It was the length that was distracting. The audience didn't know what to make of it.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (29 July 1983). "Givenchy Collection Glows with Color". The New York Times: B6. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
Aided by slender, draped shapes, knee-baring hemlines and necklines that plunged to the waist, he produced a zesty collection demonstrating that luxury need not be stodgy.
- ^ Morris, Bernadine (25 April 1987). "Women are Stealing a March on Short Skirts". The New York Times: 1. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
The differences between the short clothes of the 1960's and the styles offered today are considerable....Today,...styles...have a more formal air. Suits and jackets, almost ignored in the 1960's, are in the forefront of fashion now. Clothes are more shapely, with waistlines generally marked and hiplines often rounded.
- ^ Luther, Marylou (1 August 1987). "Paris When It Dazzles". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
The hemline hike is such an established fact of life in the couture this season [1987] that only two major designers -- Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent -- bothered to show any daytime skirts below the knees.
- ^ Ford Motor Company, Lincoln-Mercury Division (1 August 1975). "The Givenchy Edition Mark IV". 1976 Continental Mark IV. United States: Ford Motor Company, Lincoln-Mercury Division. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ Ford Motor Company, Lincoln-Mercury Division (1 August 1981). "Givenchy". Mark VI. United States: Ford Motor Company. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ Ford Motor Company, Lincoln-Mercury Division (1 August 1981). "Givenchy". Continental. United States: Ford Motor Company. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ Ford Motor Company, Lincoln-Mercury Division (1 August 1976). "Givenchy". The 1977 Continental Mark V. United States: Ford Motor Company. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ Ford Motor Company, Lincoln-Mercury Division (1 August 1978). "Givenchy". 1979 Continental Mark V. United States: Ford Motor Company. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ Pat McColl, Fashion 89: Givenchy and Valentino Add Final Touch, The Los Angeles Times, 27 January 1989.
- ^ Christie's: Empire, mise en scène par Monsieur Hubert de Givenchy
- ^ Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum: Hubert de Givenchy
- ^ GGG.at: Modeschöpfer Hubert de Givenchy ist tot (german)
- ^ "'Little black dress' designer Givenchy dies aged 91". Yahoo News Australia. 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ^ "Givenchy, French fashion icon, dies aged 91". BBC News. 12 March 2018.
- ^ Wilsher, Kim (12 March 2018). "Hubert de Givenchy, maker of style icons, dies aged 91". The Guardian.
- ^ Wilson, Eric (12 March 2018). "Hubert de Givenchy, Pillar of Romantic Elegance in Fashion, Dies at 91". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ^ Fashionista website. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "French fashion icon Givenchy dies". BBC News. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
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