French Fashion Designer Hubert, De Givenchy Passes Away
French Fashion Designer, Hubert De Givenchy Passes Away: French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, who created famous looks for Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Jackie Kennedy, has died at the age of 91.
The designer is best known for the “little black dress” worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Givenchy born into a noble French family, and destined initially for the law came from an aristocratic background, and worked with Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior after World War 2. He persuaded his family to let him pursue his passion for clothes. He started his own fashion house in 1952 introducing the concept of “separates”, blouse, skirt, jacket and trouser combinations that could be mixed and matched.
At this year’s Oscars, Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman wore a custom design showing the enduring appeal of Givenchy. He dressed some of the most beautiful women in the world and credited with introducing the notion of separates to give women greater freedom to choose. He was one of the first clothes designers to create his own perfume. In 1970, Givenchy branched out into furnishing fabrics, and designed interiors for hotels and even a Ford Continental car.
In 1988, he sold his fashion house to the luxury brand LVMH, and a few years later he retired to a life of comfortable pleasure. He came from a world of fashion that acknowledges a unique personal relationship between client and couturier.
Givenchy remains a popular choice for actors seeking awards season glamour – including Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot, who chose a gown from the label’s Haute Couture collection for the 2018 Oscars.
French business tycoon Bernard Arnault, head of the luxury goods company LVMH now owning Givenchy, called the designer “one of the creators who put Paris at the summit of world fashion in the 1950s”. The designers have asked that his friends and admirers make a donation to the children’s charity Unicef in his memory, instead of sending flowers.