Hubert de Givenchy, the French fashion design icon who dressed the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Grace Kelly, and of course Audrey Hepburn in that memorable little black dress in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, died this past Saturday at his home just outside of Paris at the age of 91. His longtime partner Philippe Venet, himself a former couture designer, confirmed the news.
Mr. Givenchy was the most aristocratic of French designers, renowned for his own personal elegance and impeccable manners and emblematic of a generation of gentleman designers who established their couture houses in postwar Paris. He was known for nurturing personal relationships with his customers and in some cases creating entire collections with specific women in mind, one of those women (and his most celebrated) being Audrey Hepburn.
In 1961, Ms. Hepburn and Mr. Givenchy made waves by creating one of the most memorable cinematic fashion moments of the 20th century in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s, when Hepburn’s character, Holly Golightly, stood in front of the famed Fifth Ave. storefront wearing oversized sunglasses, a sparkling pearl necklace, long black evening gloves, and of course a sleek black Givenchy dress—the “little black dress” that became synonymous with the two and itself turned into a famous icon, fetching $923,187 at a charity auction at Christie’s in London back in 2006.
“It was… an enormous help to know that I looked the part…then the rest wasn’t so tough anymore. Givenchy’s lovely simple clothes [gave me] the feeling of being whoever I played,” Hepburn had said of their partnership.
And what a partnership it was, continuing on for 40 years and effectively cementing Givenchy’s place in both fashion and cinema history. Hepburn became his muse, and Givenchy went on to design suits and dresses for her in films like Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Paris When it Sizzles, Love Among Thieves, Charade, and How to Steal A Million.”
But Hepburn wasn’t the only famous beauty wearing Givenchy, as he went on to design dresses and outfits for some of the most beautiful women in the world, including Grace Kelly and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, for more than three decades until eventually selling his namesake label to luxury powerhouse LVHM in 1988, after which Givenchy eventually retired just a few years later.
Still, Givenchy’s success continued and even helped launch the careers of some of modern fashion’s top designers, including the late Alexander McQueen, who would go on to start his own namesake label before his untimely death in 2010, John Galliano, who went on to Christian Dior before also starting his own label, and Riccardo Tisci, who was recently named Chief Creative Officer at Burberry.
Even today, Givenchy continues to remain a popular designer choice for actors during awards season, with both Wonder Woman’s Gal Gadot choosing a gown from the label’s Haute Couture collection and Black Panther’s Chadwick Boseman sporting a custom Givenchy design at the recent 2018 Oscars.
French business magnate Bernard Arnault, who heads LVMH, called Givenchy “One of the creators who put Paris at the summit of world fashion in the 1950s,” and his own label referred to Givenchy as “A symbol of Parisian elegance for more than half a century.”
Indeed he was, and so too was his label, and likely will be, for another half century (if not longer). The designer had asked that in lieu of sending flowers, his friends and admirers make a donation to the children’s charity Unicef in his memory.
