Vogue on Hubert de Givenchy by Drusilla Beyfus

Author:Drusilla Beyfus [Beyfus, Drusilla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abrams
Published: 2015-08-30T23:00:00+00:00

A tweed shift diagonally seamed on the bodice; a short measure of a rouleau belt, slightly raised, indicates the waistline. Photographed in 1963 by Karen Radkai for British Vogue.

Candy pink, candy striped, the deep flounce curving around the shift is all movement. Here, waistlines are down and hemlines are up. Photographed by David Bailey for British Vogue in 1967.

Whatever the seasonal trend of a Givenchy model, certain traits belong to the artist’s DNA. A sense of the harmony between garment and material is one such example. Attributes to be expected of couture it may be said, but in the designer’s case, the synthesis probably owes its force to his unusual priorities in the making process. Whereas customary practice is for a drawing of a new model to exist and for the fabric then to be selected, with Givenchy the procedure is reversed. As he explained, “The fabric is the thing that inspires you first. Then comes the creation (of the design) and knowing how to give the fabric its best possible value.” He has said: “The smell of silk is unique.”

Absorption with the potential of textiles is fundamental to his practice. He said in a magazine interview, “If I have an idea and the fabric reacts differently, it should not be used.” The designer made a point of visiting the specialist fabric houses in France, Italy, and Switzerland, and often worked with them on texture and design, usually it is said, asking for simplifications. Vogue Paris published a painting by the Colombian figurative artist Fernando Botero in which one of his symbolic rotund female figures is portrayed in a Rubens-esque bare-shouldered Infanta dress, the fabric realized echoing one in the Givenchy’s current collection.

His take on sartorial sensuousness is another touchstone. It’s in the nature of Givenchy’s style that the erotic is contained within a measure of discretion. Hebe Dorsay, fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune, had another way of putting it, “Givenchy makes anyone from anywhere look like a lady.” Although he is known for creating some of the most decadent of décolletés and the sassiest of beach wear, the suggestive or louche is absent in the concept. His ball dresses and gala occasion clothes achieve a balance of glamour and propriety that is so hard to get right—to judge from efforts in the current public arena. Yet there is nothing Minnie Mouse about his designs when a spectacular effect is called for. Consider an example from the 1967 couture collection: a resplendent jumpsuit in yellow silk styled with a long sleeveless coat in shocking-pink cut velvet, printed in a pattern of yellow Chinese-style trees—the coat open on one side from hip to hem.

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