The fashion pillar of romantic elegance, Hubert de Givenchy, passed away at his home outside Paris this past week.
There are few careers in the world of fashion as storied as that of Hubert de Givenchy, the French designer known for his mastery of the ‘little black dress’, who passed away in his sleep last week. The news was confirmed by Givenchy’s longtime partner, haute-couture designer Philippe Venet.
Born in 1927 as Hubert James Taffin de Givenchy to an aristocratic family in the French city of Beauvais, the fashion icon established the house of Givenchy in the 1950s. The French couturier upheld a standard of quintessentially romantic elegance in fashion for more than four decades, dressing the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Grace Kelly and memorably Audrey Hepburn, in a little black dress, in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Hubert de Givenchy represented a generation of gentlemanly designers who nurtured personal relationships with customers and created collections with specific women in mind. He was just 24 years old when he showcased his very first collection in February 1952 that included the ‘Bettina blouse’, a tribute to his original muse, Bettina Graziani, Paris’s leading model of the day.
Soon after, Mr. Givenchy came to the attention of young rising star Audery Hepburn. It was in 1961, that Ms. Hepburn and Mr. Givenchy created one of the most indelible cinematic fashion moments of the 20th century in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, in which her character, Holly Golightly, is wearing oversized sunglasses, four strands of sparkling pearls, long evening gloves and a slender, shoulder-baring black Givenchy dress, more famously known as the ‘little black dress’. The style instantly became associated with Hubert de Givenchy. In 2010 Givenchy stated: “The little black dress is the hardest thing to realise, because you must keep it simple.”
Mr. Givenchy and Audery Hepburn developed a design relationship and friendship that he said became “a kind of marriage”. Hepburn once quoted that “Givenchy is far more than a couturier; he is a creator of personality”. For the duration of their partnership, Ms. Hepburn said it was Mr. Givenchy’s designs that gave her the confidence to play her parts, or to step onstage before thousands of people to promote a charity.
Ms. Hepburn also wore Givenchy designs in the movies Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Paris When it Sizzles, How to Steal a Million, Charade and Love Among Thieves, and off the screen, too.
Mr. Givenchy was the rare designer who maintained financial independence for most of his career and also owned his own fragrance business, which was run by his brother, who died in 2009.
Among many awards, Givenchy received the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 1983 and a lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995. He was chosen for the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1970.
Givenchy sold the business to Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton in 1988, but continued designing at the helm until his retirement in 1995. Other designers took the business reins after he moved on, including John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Riccardo Tisci.
His final collection for the Fall/Winter season 1995-1996 ended his celebrated 43-year career. Before the show, he reportedly told his friends: “I’ve stopped making frocks, but not making discoveries. Life is like a book; one has to know when to turn the page.”
After his retirement, he lived a life of comfortable discretion, making some appearances at events honouring his lifetime of work. With ‘To Audrey with Love exhibition’, he celebrated his 40-year friendship with his fashion muse at the Gemeentemuseum in 2016.
–With information from Vanity Fair
