Hubert Givenchy and Givenchy

Givenchy - elegance, French charm, aristocracy, simplicity and sophistication. What should be a woman dressed by Givenchy? She should be like Audrey Hepburn. Graceful as a doe. Divinely beautiful, as if descended from heaven. A real fairy. After all, it was Audrey Hepburn who became the muse for Hubert Givenchy for many years. An ideal to which he was faithful all his life. But she was not inferior to him in loyalty, since 1957, this great actress dressed exclusively at the no less great couturier, at Hubert de Givenchy. This "de" in his name is not accidental at all. He was called the last aristocrat of the fashion world. He was an aristocrat.

"Fashion is the ability to dress so as to walk unnoticed down the street," said Hubert Givenchy. He was never shocking, he did not create unthinkable structures, did not strive for modernity and avant-garde. He was too fond of classics and elegant simplicity. And it was Givenchy who was one of the first to support the idea of ​​a ready-to-wear, ready-made dress.

Hubert de Givenchy was born on February 21, 1927. His father, Lucien Tuffin de Givenchy, was a pilot, one of those very first romantic pilots who, despite all the danger, strove for the stars. He died when his son was only two years old. The great-grandfather of Hubert Givenchy on the mother's side - Pierre-Adolphe Baden - is a famous French painter.

At the age of 10, Hubert decided that he would be a fashion designer. It was at this age that he visited the Paris exhibition and visited the Pavilion of Elegance, in which 30 models of the most famous French fashion houses were presented.

Having matured, Hubert Givenchy moved from his hometown of Beauvais to Paris, where he worked and studied with such famous fashion designers of the time as Lucien Lelong, Jacques Fath, Robert Piguet. He also worked with Elsa Schiaparelli, this imperturbable surrealist from the world of fashion.

In Paris, he also enters the school of fine arts. And in 1952 Hubert Givenchy's dream came true - he opened his own Fashion House, Givenchy Fashion House, since his family had money. Givenchy was then only 25 years old, he becomes the youngest couturier in Paris.

And his first collections are a success. It was then that he created the "Bettina blouse" - a white cotton blouse with black and white ruffles on the sleeves. It is named after Bettina Graziani, a model and press agent for Givenchy Fashion House. His first muse.

In 1953, Hubert met the Spanish fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga, who would become his idol, teacher and friend for years to come. Cristobal Balenciaga, in particular, became famous for the fact that in 1957 he decided not to allow journalists to his new collections for the first eight weeks, so that they could not influence the opinion of buyers. Then Givenchy supported him in everything.

In 1954, Givenchy met his muse, the ideal for life - actress Audrey Hepburn, for which he had to sew dresses for the movie "Sabrina". It is for the costumes for the film "Sabrina" Givenchy will receive his first "Oscar". This event will take place on February 4, 1955. February has always been a fateful month for Givenchy - he was born in February, opened his own Fashion House in February, and received his first Oscar in February.

Givenchy sewed costumes for all films with Audrey Hepburn's participation, for example, the films "Breakfast at Tiffany's", "Sweet Face".

For Hepber, he will create his first perfume L'Interdit - "Forbidden". These perfumes laid the foundation for a new direction of the Givenchy Fashion House - perfumery, Parfums Givenchy.

Another woman who celebrated Givenchy's style was Jacqueline Kennedy... Even for her husband's funeral, she ordered herself a dress from Hubert Givenchy. He dressed and Grace Kelly.

In 1973, the Givenchy House begins to deal with men's fashion.

In 1980 Givenchy became part of the LVMH corporation. The LVMH Corporation today also owns Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Christian Lacroix and Celine.In the 1990s, fashion became a rebel, designers increasingly deviated from the canons, while Givenchy still preferred harmony, remained true to himself. Perhaps he simply ceased to suit the management of the LVMH corporation. But Hubert de Givenchy left himself. In 1995. “The main thing is to stop in time,” he says.

After his departure, more than one designer changed at the Givenchy Fashion House. At first it was a graduate of the London School of Art John Galliano... Then Alexander McQueinn, this is the "terrible child" of British fashion. "Pins in a noble house" - they will talk about them. In 2001, Julien McDonald became the artistic director of the women's clothing department, who said in an interview "I love vulgarity. I like everything flashy, flashy, on the verge of bad taste." This is precisely what is completely contrary to the ideals and ideas of Hubert de Givenchy. In 2004, the collection for the Givenchy House was shown by the designer Oswald Boateng.

Hubert Givenchy himself, who retired from business in 2007, took up the design of stamps, so it was the stamps created by him that were issued in France for Valentine's Day. He also organized an exhibition dedicated to Balenciaga, helped to restore the gardens of Versailles. But he no longer deals with fashionable clothes.