Audrey Hepburn in Paris by Meghan Friedlander

Author:Meghan Friedlander [Friedlander, Meghan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

On a quiet morning in March of 1963, a decade after Audrey and Hubert were introduced, a bright-eyed Audrey arrived promptly at 3 avenue George V for a full day of fashion fittings. Accompanied by her husband, Mel Ferrer, Audrey made her way to the salon inside the atelier where they were embraced by Givenchy’s staff and the pleasant vibrations of French bossa nova music emanating from a record player. Vogue spent the entire day with Audrey from nine in the morning until midnight as she tried on various pieces from Givenchy’s haute couture Spring collection. Vogue recorded Audrey’s impression of each piece, “I want to make some dream-choices for Vogue, as if I was in a candy store.”108 They patiently sat with her as Roger Thiery, from Alexandre de Paris’s salon, and his team of assistants styled Audrey’s hair for each ensemble. Thiery created Audrey’s imaginative updos (consisting of loops, twists, and knots) by using a combination of Audrey’s own hair and fake lacquered hairpieces stacked on a cone-shaped postiche propped on top of her head and held together with bone hairpins. Showing no signs of fatigue, Audrey modeled each dress before Bert Stern’s camera.

Stern had first worked with Vogue in the fall of 1960, photographing Deborah Dixon for the cover of their November 15 issue. This was Audrey’s first time working with the young American fashion photographer. Stern instinctively knew how to capture Audrey’s elongated and exaggerated features. His minimalist style effortlessly complemented Givenchy’s polished designs and Audrey’s feminine aura. Right away, Audrey was charmed by a pink fairy-esque gown: “The gossamer quality, the whole idea of it fascinated me; it’s a dress that has to be worn.”109 Vogue described the dress as “a cocoon of romancey pink tulle with an inner layer of embroidery—mother of pearl, paillettes, sequins, glittery pink and silver thread—and yards of white tulle stole.”110 A color photo of Audrey modeling this cocoon-inspired dress was used for the cover of Vogue Paris’s May 1963 issue. Hubert de Givenchy also chose an image of Audrey in his pink creation for the promotion of his fragrance L’Interdit.

L’Interdit, French for “forbidden,” was designed exclusively for Audrey in 1957, the same year Hubert established his own perfume label, Parfums Givenchy. Hubert envisioned a perfume that would complement the clothes he designed for Audrey. In 1958, the house of Givenchy launched two new fragrances, Le De and, with Audrey’s approval, L’Interdit. (This was the first time L’Interdit was made accessible to the public.) Le De, “De” the particle taken from Hubert’s name, was advertised as a floral scent for daytime while L’Interdit was described as a “provocative fragrance for after dark wear.”111

Audrey and Mel on the cover of Paris Vogue May 1963.

© Jean Stockton/Alamy Stock Photo

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