Hubert De Givenchy

Clare Waight Keller puts Givenchy back into the spotlight – I doubt I’ve got to remind you who dressed Meghan Markle for her wedding day. But Clare’s latest collection – the haute couture one – establishes her even further as the right person behind the label found by the late master of chic and elegance, Hubert de Givenchy. It was a magnificient tribute to the man, who built the image of Audrey Hepburn and was one of the most crucial pillars of 20th century fashion. After his death in February, the brand – and it’s creative director – were sure that the genius has to be embraced to the fullest. “Having met him, and the fact that he passed three months ago, he felt very present in my mind; his legacy felt like something that needed to be celebrated,” she said backstage. “Everybody knows his work with Audrey. But less so the capes, the peekaboos, the architecture, the flou. . . . It was a wonderful trip for me to discover it and reinterpret it my way.”

It’s true – there’s so much connected to Givenchy in fact, and Waight Keller refreshed that to the contemporary audience. The iconic LBD (Little Black Dress!) was there, but with a hood (which could have been a modern Breakfast at Tiffany’s look to wear to be honest); this spectacular, caped ivory gown accessorized with a silver metal harness appeared; delightful plissé silk and sophisticated draping were present in nearly every look (Hubert would adore that); meticulous embroideries and feather aplications were as well on the runway, in excess. The collection was rich in references, but Clare didn’t get trapped by them at all. In overall, it was a refined, glorious line-up that makes you reassured of one thing – Hubert De Givenchy’s creations are timeless, and people like Waight Keller are talented enough to make them look desirable and modern.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

I don’t want to spark a mood of competitiveness, but what Natascha Ramsay-Levi did at Chloé, replacing Clare Waight Keller, and what did the latter do at Givenchy, is just incomparable. I had big hopes that once landing at Givenchy, Waight Keller might leave her boho dresses era behind and go a new path. Well, she did. But her debut collection felt just… boring. Watching it, I felt nothing. Riccardo Tisci’s very printed, pro-millennial and Kardashian-y phase has been completely wiped out (for good), but the new Givenchy feels like Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent, just a bit more ‘proper’ – a bit glam, a bit rock, a bit of ‘French chic’. In overall, you can forget majority of the looks on the next day.

According to Clare, she dived into Hubert de Givenchy’s archives to catch up with the brand’s original roots. There were references to dress silhouettes from 1961 and shades of famous pastel-blue ‘Bettina’ blouse (the ruffle-trimmed piece from 1952 that launched Hubert’s career); the iconic Little Black Dress, worn with a Givenchy tag first in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, was rejuvenated with some pussy-bows and transparent sleeves; the lip motif, that covered mini-skirts, appeared to be also an archive find. But what’s the sense of moulding a collection out of archive codes, if in the end it looks like a line-up of very basic, commercially forward clothes (that don’t differ from many other brands, in fact)? There should be at least a bit the designer’s stamp. Oh, Clare. That was a mild debut. Big hopes for something more ‘authentic’ the next time.