Hubert de Givenchy (hubert de givenchy), the founder of Givenchy brand, died on March 10th at the age of 91. His family announced the news on Monday, which was later confirmed by the brand official. It was about ten years ago that the last time it caused such sadness in the circle of loving luxury goods and paying attention to fashion brands and even fashion industry.
In 2008, Yves Saint Laurent died in Paris after years of illness. At that time, the word "the fall of the master" was often used in media reports. Today, we finally have to add the word "the last" in front of it, not to praise or criticize the designers who are active now, but to "that era", which belongs to the most glorious golden age of haute couture, and is really over.
In the news I read these two days, there are always some things that bring bad emotions. First of all, nearly half of the articles were written on the wrong date of Mr. Givenchy’s death, and most of them were written on the 12th, that is, the date when the news was announced, and even some encyclopedic web pages were the same. Secondly, it is the positioning of "fashion master", and Givenchy may prefer to hear the words "fashion" and "design"; The last disappointment comes from Givenchy, a brand of the same name founded by him. After the so-called sad announcement of the brand’s death, some encyclopedia search pages have changed their personal homepages to black, while the official website of Givenchy brand has not only no eye-catching labels, but also the high-end ready-to-wear that has lost its elegant style in the last century is still rolling brilliantly.
I don’t know if the small emotions in the hearts of these fans are also a little regret when Mr. Givenchy left. After all, this French brand, which was once brilliant in the second half of the 20th century, deviated more and more from the style he once admired after John Galliano and Alexander McQueen left, and eventually became a "luxury" with a name.
Experience the golden age
It is undeniable that Givenchy still has many "explosions" today, and it is still fighting on the stage of haute couture. The last time the Chinese people watched it widely was in the Spring Festival Evening, when Faye Wong and Na Ying "held hands again". Na Ying wore Givenchy’s haute couture with the same earrings. Earlier, Givenchy’s explosive dog-head T-shirts, Bambi series, lambskin lipstick and lace mask on the make-up line were all paved by stars and fashionistas for a long time. Of course, among them, the greatest contribution is Degang Guo, who turned out to be a "brain-dead powder" and performed the "buyer show" of Givenchy’s various clothes.
However, these seemingly prosperous appearances may be welcome for an emerging fashion brand, but Givenchy was once so extraordinary after all, so the status quo can only be regarded as "nothing more" for it.
Everyone is the golden age of his favorite art, such as architectural style, editing techniques, contemporary art and so on, and so is fashion. Around the 1950s, it was the era of grand resurgence of "feminine style", and it was also the golden age of magnificent high fashion. Now, it is said that the design of that year is still not "outdated", just like in the past 2018 Academy Awards, rita moreno put on the "battle dress" on the night when she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress 56 years ago. At that time, it was the most beautiful, romantic, elegant and affectionate era of fashion in the whole world.
Among the designers who created that prosperous era, Ms. Coco Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga, Balmain, and of course, Givenchy, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent&hellip, who once dominated the fashion circle before and after World War II; … All male designers, it was an era of "men create and control, women consume".
A lifetime of Parisian sentiment
Mr. Givenchy’s road as a designer is far smoother than that of his peers. There are no stories of hardships, turning points and luck to tell. What is special is the Parisian sentiment that this native Frenchman has been obsessed with all his life. "I learned the so-called Parisian sentiment in the book." Givenchy said more than once.
In 1927, Givenchy was born into a wealthy family in Beauvais, northwest of Paris, France, and his father was a mine owner. A well-fed gentleman was originally planned by his family to become a lawyer, but Givenchy insisted on being a designer and engaged in fashion. Of course, as we said, there are no twists and turns — — After all, for such a rich family, being a lawyer and being a designer are not bad money.
So, 17-year-old Givenchy left his hometown without hesitation and embarked on a long road to Paris. For young people who want to be designers, Paris has countless attractions. With the formal study of fashion production in Paris, like-minded friends began to appear around Givenchy. In fact, they will stand at the same height in the future. For example, Jacques Fath, a French master of haute couture in Givenchy, and Valentino, another famous apprentice, were among the students who went to school with him at Robert Piguet, Lucien Lelong and Elsa Schiaparelli, as well as Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior.
In 1952, Givenchy rejected Mr. Dior’s suggestion to cooperate with him and founded "the House of Givenchy", a handsome French gentleman with a height of 196, who began to dabble in fashion circles formally without even experiencing any waiting and silence. Just one year later, he became out of control on his favorite "Parisian sentiment" and quickly became famous. Of course, this is inseparable from the muse of his life, and it is also a lady who can’t help but talk about other things every time — — Audrey Hepburn.
Amazing time with Hepburn
Since he first met Hepburn at the age of 26, Givenchy has never left this topic in his life. Even in the last few interviews he received at the age of 90 in 2017, Hepburn was still an unavoidable theme, not only because they were close friends for more than 40 years, but also because it was the muse of his life creation, which inspired most of his design ideas in different time periods.
Because of the brevity of the message, Givenchy always thought that Hepburn, who was going to visit him, was the greatest actress at that time, katharine hepburn. "God, can I design clothes for her? Can I do it well? " Givenchy has been sighing in his memory. But in fact, as we all know, it was Audrey Hepburn, who was still unknown in France, who opened the door of his studio the next day. But it was only this meeting that Givenchy was completely fascinated by this beautiful girl with outstanding temperament. Of course, it was an appreciation beyond love. So he decided on the same day to meet all Hepburn’s requirements and take out the customized fashion to be used at the press conference as a prop costume in the new film "Dragon and Phoenix Match". This friendship began in this way.
Undoubtedly, Givenchy would like to thank this friendship, because a year later, Audrey Hepburn, who rose in Ran Ran, won the best actress in Roman Holiday at the 1954 Academy Awards, and made her debut in Givenchy dress for the first time, showing the brand to the world.
"We are friends who talk about everything. Audrey has achieved great success and honor that she never thought of, but she is still unassuming. This is her. I want to say a little thing that she is particularly touching. Sometimes the phone in my studio rings in the early morning, only three times at a time. I know it’s Audrey, and three times is ‘ I love you ’ Three words, and then she hung up. This not only reveals her cuteness, but also shows that he doesn’t want to disturb his friend’s work but still remembers your respect. " Givenchy never tires of talking about Hepburn, describing their past time and time again, showing his deep nostalgia and friendship for many years.
Givenchy once said: "True beauty comes from respect for tradition and admiration for classicism." Therefore, the 4G spirit, which represents gentleness, Grace, Gaiety and Givenchy, has become the indelible soul of the brand. And these are all based on Hepburn as a muse, gradually formed in the design again and again. Some people say that Givenchy created Hepburn’s quality and image. It is also said that Hepburn made Givenchy’s brand effect. In fact, these friends have never cared so much about these comments, because only they understand the tacit understanding that emerges from each other’s smiles.
In Hepburn’s film career, 80% costumes were designed by Givenchy. Among them, Hepburn’s Givenchy black dress in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s is the most famous. This skirt was bought back by LVHM Group, which belongs to the Givenchy brand, for more than 5 million RMB.
Ladies in Givenchy
In addition to personally creating custom-made clothes for Hepburn for nearly half a century, Givenchy’s aesthetics and design also influenced many modern, fashionable, exquisite and elegant ladies at that time, among whom there were naturally many equally outstanding figures. One of the most famous is Jacqueline Kennedy, the former first lady of the United States. After meeting Givenchy, she almost chose Givenchy’s works on every important occasion in her life.
Givenchy’s studio has personal clothing samples of every Kennedy woman. After the assassination of President Kennedy, the sad Kennedy family were all dressed in Givenchy costumes. Jackie Kennedy specially ordered a Givenchy dress for the funeral and flew it from Paris.
Grace of monaco Grace Kelly, who has an indissoluble bond with Hermes, is also a loyal fan of Givenchy. When she visited the White House in 1961, the green dress she wore was made by Givenchy. Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, also created a classic striped dress with her luxurious Cartier jewelry in 1966 by Givenchy.
Of course, more ladies who choose Givenchy are still unknown celebrities, ladies and fashion "fans", and Givenchy gives them back a design that changes the history of women’s fashion in the world — — "Split" ladies’ dress breaks the traditional aesthetic of women’s one-piece dresses. Finally, they can freely match up and down without the constraints of suits. Givenchy is good at using exaggerated colors, but the shape of clothing is very simple, which in a sense restores the elegance and nobility of high fashion, but at the same time gives fashion new ideas of the times.
Although Givenchy chose cutting-edge design style more than once, he still adhered to the soul of haute couture in the era when "ready-to-wear" became popular in the late World War II, and became a loyal guardian of haute couture in the best era of French haute couture. Guillermo Solano, artistic director of Thyssen Museum, the venue of its large-scale art retrospective exhibition in 2014, commented on Mr. Givenchy: "Mr. Givenchy is the last master of haute couture".
However, with the acquisition of the brand by LVMH, Mr. Givenchy officially retired in 1995. In order to pursue the market economy and realize the brand value, the Givenchy brand broke away from the ranks of haute couture for a long time. Although in recent years, with the increasing demand of high-net-worth people, the brand has returned to haute couture, but it is no longer the focus of the brand, but more a symbol of flaunting nature.
When Tisci took over as the chief designer of the brand, Givenchy moved from a little black dress to a "dark dress". Although the dark rock style also had a good response, it was far from the "classical and elegant" at the beginning of the brand. I wonder if this change will bring a faint regret to the 91-year-old man who died peacefully in his sleep.
● Editor: Zhao Yu
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