The entire fashion/designing global family is literally bereaved!!! Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy, better known as Hubert de Givenchy, the elegant 6’6” French designer who founded the house of Givenchy in 1952, dressed Audrey Hepburn for seven of her movies and once shipped a black dress overnight to Jacqueline Kennedy when she requested it for the funeral of her husband, died on Saturday at the age of 91 said his family on Monday.
He died in his slumber at the Renaissance Chateau near Paris! His partner Philippe Venet, a former couture designer, confirmed the news. Hubert de Givenchy was born on 20th February 1927 in Beauvais, Oise [France] into a Protestant family. He came from an aristocratic background, and worked alongside the then unknown Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior after World War Two.
He was employed by the avant-garde designer Elsa Schiaparelli before leaving to found his own fashion house in 1952. There he introduced the concept of “separates” – blouse, skirt, jacket and trouser combinations that could be mixed and matched, that is “to match” in local parlance.
In 1970 he was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Givenchy sold his label, Givenchy Couture Group, to LVMH in 1988 for $45 million after 36 years of independence. He remained at the helm of creative designs for seven years before retiring in 1995.
In the following years, the house saw a revolving door of designers in the likes of John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Julien MacDonald. Riccardo Tisci (currently Chief Creative Officer at Burberry) took over the label in 2005, putting it back on the design map with his daring, Goth-tinged fashion styles during a stellar 12-year tenure.
Givenchy is best known to the general public as the creator of the film and personal wardrobes of his longtime friend Audrey Hepburn, actress, model, dancer and humanitarian, of British descent in movies like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “Funny Face.” The actress also inspired his first perfume, (L’Interdit and Le de Givenchy). Audrey Hepburn was the face of that fragrance.
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A FEW REACTIONS FROM DEFUNCT’S FRIENDS
- “He revolutionized international fashion with the timelessly stylish looks he created for Audrey Hepburn, his great friend and muse for over 40 years. His work remains as relevant today as it was then.” – The House of Givenchy.
- Waight Keller who became Givenchy’s first female artistic director had this to say, “I am deeply saddened by the loss of a great man and artist I have had the honor to meet and get to know since my appointment at Givenchy.”
“Not only was he one of the most influential fashion figures of our time, whose legacy still influences modern-day dressing, but he also was one of the chicest most charming men I have ever met. The definition of a true gentleman that will stay with me forever” she added.
- Fashion historian Valerie Steele, director of the museum at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology says, “Givenchy was the quintessence of post-World War II French couture. His clothes were very elegant and intended to make women look beautiful. He is best known for his designs of the ’50s and early ’60s for Audrey Hepburn.”
- Rose Marie Bravo, formerly an executive of Saks Fifth Avenue, which carried the Givenchy label mentions, “Givenchy understood the lifestyle of his key customers,”. “He observed how they lived and designed clothes that complemented their lives.”
- “He lived very grandly – He was the first person I ever met who had a separate, summer wardrobe for his furniture. He covered everything in white duck cloth.” said Jody Donohue, Givenchy’s New York press agent during the 1990s. “‘
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Being one of the first French fashion designers to create an international empire under his signature, Givenchy had a statuesque physique, perfect grooming and Old World manners. He lent refinement to the roughhouse world of fashion. He could make a courtly bow or the kiss of a woman’s hand seem perfectly natural.
Givenchy had an emphatic presence that graced the fashion industry for over fifty years. A well renowned collector with a very good eye for objects of art as well as the interior house decor, he leaves behind a fashion house that defined the very basis of elegance.
After he retired, Givenchy became more outspoken than usual. In an interview with People magazine in January 1996 he said, “Fashion today is ugly. There’s no elegance to it. No one is discreet.” He also said he had no regrets for making a career of Fashion as he says, “To have lived your dream is very rare in life, I have been so fortunate.”
“I am happy because I did the job I dreamt of as a child,” he said at a press conference, where he offered recollections about his professional and personal relationships with some of his prominent clients, as well as the lifelong object of his admiration and respect, Cristóbal Balenciaga.
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Hubert Givenchy leaves behind his partner, Philippe Venet, his nieces and nephews, and their children. His family plans a private funeral and requested that instead of flowers, donations be made to UNICEF in his name.
May His Soul rest In Perfect Peace.
