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Zockoll 1 Chelsea Zockoll History of fashion Marie Aja- Herrera Jan 30th 2019 The Evolution of Givenchy Couture, Now and Then

In 1858 Charles Fredrick Worth created the first haute couture house in Paris, France. His plan was to create exclusive luxury goods for the wealthy upper-class woman. The phrase haute couture can be broken down into two parts. Haute meaning high, as in high-class, while couture translates to clothes produced to the buyer’s measurements, and specific requests; an original one of a kind piece. “Each piece is tailored specifically to the client and created by hand down to the finest details. Price is not an object as these pieces are seen as fashion art from the most skilled individuals.” 1 The first couture houses consisted of Pierre Cardin, Andre Courreges, Yves Saint Laurent, and Givenchy. In 1952 fashion designer Herbert De Givenchy started the haute couture and perfume houses of Givenchy. He was also a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. The first pieces that he designed launched his career. It was a new collection called “Les Séparables” this new raw cotton collection consisted of puffy blouses and light skirts. “The light skirts blending architectural lines and simplicity. Hubert de Givenchy presented his first shirtdress; the evolution toward lantern shapes would become iconic.” These unique and elegant designs caught the eye of famous American actress Audrey Hepburn. With her love for Givenchy, she later became his muse for the Givenchy brand. After the enormous success of his womenswear,

1 “The History of Haute Couture.” London Fitting Rooms, www.londonfittingrooms.com/le-boudoir/the-history-ofhaute-couture-fashion.

Zockoll 2 in 1969 Givenchy launched his new line “Givenchy gentlemen.” By expanding his brand to now include menswear, profits increased exponentially. Now the upper-class men and women of Paris could both show off Givenchy designs. Sadly, on March 10, 2018 Hubert de Givenchy passed away peacefully in Paris, at the ripe old age of 91. Since his passing, “Clare Waight Keller has been the artistic director of Haute Couture and women’s and men’s ready-to-wear. With her debut show, on October 1st 2017, Clare Waight Keller established a forward-looking new signature for the house of Givenchy based on the idea of Light in darkness.”2 Givenchy is known for being a very minimal, elegant, and classic brand for any type of woman. He created beautiful designs using “spare lines, slender hips, slim silhouettes and swan-like necks that won over actresses from around the world.”3 “In 1952, Hubert de Givenchy presented his very

Figure 1

first collection with Bettina Graziani, who opened the show with what has become the famous Bettina Blouse”4. The rest of his collection contained many beautiful pieces that glamorized women by using pleated skirts, oversized collars, and tea length dresses and skirts. As shown in figure 1, Givenchy used the tea length pleated skirt to elongate her body. Having the skirt cinched with a wide belt accentuated her tiny waist and hourglass figure. Finally, to top off the whole look, he used a wide oversized collar. Givenchy loved to play with shape in his first collection and he did this by oversizing a collar, or a sleeve, or even the ruffles on a sleeve.

Figure 2 2 “MAISON The History of the House.” Givenchy Official Site | GIVENCHY Paris, www.givenchy.com/america/en/maison-history-history-of-the-house.html. 3 “MAISON The History of the House.” Givenchy Official Site | GIVENCHY Paris, www.givenchy.com/america/en/maison-history-history-of-the-house.html. 4 The History of Haute Couture.” London Fitting Rooms, www.londonfittingrooms.com/le-boudoir/the-history-ofhaute-couture-fashion.

Zockoll 3 Another look Givenchy designed was a top with a lantern sleeve and an elegant wide scooped neckline (figure 2). Paired with a tea length skirt with gathering on the left top around the waist. Lastly, a piece that stood out from all the rest was a white strapless ball gown (figure 3). This beautiful ball gown has black floral lace, which was a nice contrast. These pieces paved the way for Givenchy’s future collections, all of which continued to be worn by wealthy, elegant, high class women. There were both contrasts and similarities between Givenchy’s first collection in 1952 and the Spring 2019 couture show. Similarities included the shapes and silhouettes as well and neutral solid colors. Some of the pieces from the 2019 collection have almost a direct correlation with the first 1952 collection. The first look from the 2019 spring collection is shown in figure 4. This piece has a large, oversized sleeve, similar to the

Figure 3

lantern sleeve from the 1952 (figure 2), although it has been modernized. Even though it is more structural, it still shows a direct correlation between the two collections. Despite modernization of the 2019 collection to conform to current trends, it still rings true to what Givenchy was trying to achieve when he started the couture house. Lastly, another Figure 4

comparison between the two can be seen in figure 5 of the 2019 collection and the ball gown in figure 3 from the 1952 collection. Despite the obvious modernization of the latest collection, the contrast between black and white is clear. The black floral has simply been replaced with black stripes.

Zockoll 4 These beautiful designs Givenchy has produced has inspired me to make my 10 look collection off of. My collection will contain a lot of similarities between his first collection in 1952, as well as similarities between the most recent Spring 2019 collection. My c Figure 5 will be a fall winter 2020 collection that will be created with the intention as if it was produced by Givenchy himself. Givenchy is an elegant and successful brand that clothes even the most discerning man or woman during any phase of their life. A famous quote from Hubert de Givenchy states, “The dress must follow the body of a woman, not the body following the shape of the dress.”5

5 “TOP 6 QUOTES BY HUBERT DE GIVENCHY.” A-Z Quotes, www.azquotes.com/author/22741-Hubert_de_Givenchy....