On This Day In Fashion History...

...Icon-maker, Hubert de Givenchy Was Born

On 21st February 1927, Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy was born in Beauvais, France. With a name like that, he was obliged to do great things and he did not disappoint, going on to become one of the most influential and pioneering couturiers of the mid twentieth century.

THE EARLY YEARS
Inheriting his title from his father, the Marquis of Givenchy, the young count's creative talents were the legacy of his mother's bloodline, who were influential in raising him following the death of his father in 1930.

It was a trip to the 1937 World's Fair in Paris that first inspired dreams of a career in fashion and in 1944, aged seventeen, Givenchy took himself to Paris where he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts to learn his craft.

He followed this with stints designing for some of the most significant fashion houses of the era beginning with Jacques Fath in 1945, then Robert Piguet and Lucien Lelong in 1946 before designing separates for the boutique of Elsa Schiapparelli from 1947 to 1951.

THE LAUNCH OF MAISON GIVENCHY
By 1952 he was ready to launch his own design house. His debut collection focused on separates: light, floor-length skirts and beautiful blouses. They were pieces that could be mixed and matched to suit the wearers personal style - a novel idea in a time it was the couturiers that issued head-to-toe style dicta.

He was the youngest couturier in Paris coming up with a new way of dressing for a new generation of women. Post World War II, boutiques were becoming increasingly popular: more accessible than haute couture salons, they offered more affordable goods and were the forerunner of ready-to-wear. Givenchy incorporated the spirit of the boutique with the quality of couture, and in 1954 became the first couturier to launch a pret-a-porter line.

THE GIVENCHY STYLE
He was greatly influenced by Cristobal Balenciaga. ("Balenciaga was my religion," Givenchy told WWD in 2007.) Under Balenciaga's mentoring, Givenchy's focus increasingly grew towards purity of line. In 1957, the pair independently launched the 'sack' silhouette.

Contrary to the fitted shapes of the time, the sack ignored the waistline. By-passing the curves of the female form, it's beauty came from the shroud of mystery it created about the body that lay beneath.

His youthful spirit encouraged raising hemlines too, as he urged women to show off their legs - it was the precursor to a trend that would rise to extreme heights in the ensuing decade.

MAKING AN ICON
The 1950s and 60s were Givenchy's golden era and the essence of his style has been immortalised by the great women that he dressed. The most significant of which was Audrey Hepburn who became both his friend and his muse. Dressing the actress both on and off-screen, he must be credited with securing her place as a fashion icon. "His clothes are the only clothes in which I am myself," said Hepburn of Givenchy. "He is far more than a couturier, he is a creator of personality."

Dressing her first for the Sabrina (1954), he went on to perfect the little black dress, which created a cinematic legend of its own in Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961). "The little black dress is the hardest thing to realise," he told an interviewer in 2010. "Because you must keep it simple."

Simplicity however, was what Givenchy did best - "Clutter is not Givenchy's thing," remarked Vogue in 1969. "Purifying and refining are."

This look did not transcend well into the seventies and eighties. His less-is-more, classic style did not fit with a decade that listed flower power, punk and glam rock amongst it's key influences or with the power-dressing, label flaunting, cashed up fads of the 1980s.

Inspite of his critics, Givenchy persisted with his principles. In 1988 he sold his label to LVMH but held his position as head of one of the great couture houses of Paris until his retirement in 1995.

Balenciaga - A Fashion Master

21st January marks the birth of not just one fashion legend but two, Christian Dior and Cristobal Balenciaga. Fashion contemporaries, they led the charge in re-establishing the dominance of Parisian haute couture post Second World War. However, whilst Dior grabbed the headlines, Balenciaga was the quiet createur, leaving only a silent archive to stand testament to his legend. What better day to create some noise and celebrate a master. 

THE PRODIGAL SON

His fashion genius developed early. With his mother a seamstress in their hometown of Guetaria, Spain, he was exposed to the principles of fashion construction from a young age. Nevertheless, aged just eleven years old, Balenciaga made a perfect copy of a suit he’d seen being worn by the Marquesa de Casa Tores as she holidayed in the town. So impressed was she with his creation that she became his benefactor, enabling him to take on a tailor’s apprenticeship to develop his skills.

Though his progression was gradual, as was typical of his style of working, he climbed his way up the career ladder, honing his craft every step of the way. He opened his first couture salon in San Sebastian and then another in Madrid but the Spanish Civil War soon robbed him of his aristocratic client base and after a brief stint in London, in 1937 he opened the doors to his Parisian house. 

THE LEARNED CRAFTSMAN

Balenciaga was a master craftsman. Studying the techniques of the couturiers, in the interwar years he’d travelled to Paris, buying up modeles which he would then deconstruct and analyse. He was constantly researching; always prepared to challenge himself, he was open and looking for new techniques and new solutions so he might edge a little closer to perfection with every creation. 

And a perfectionist he was. Where as Dior was a designer, preferring to sketch his ideas, Balenciaga played an active role in developing his garments through every stage - he would often see a hundred fittings a day! Sleeves were his particular obsession, and he was infamous for setting and re-setting them until he achieved his desired effect. 

THE CREATEUR

But so powerful were his creations, they were worthy of every extra hour, every extra stitch, every extra moment of contemplation that was spent on them. He was an architect of fashion. He was inspired by geometric shapes especially the sphere and, like sculptures, his designs seemed to work separately to the body, enveloping it, using it for support yet ultimately, standing away from it; his creations were 3D entities on their own. 

“Where as Dior’s dresses are most ingeniously and beautifully evolved from sketches, Balenciaga uses fabrics like a sculptor working in marble.” - CECIL BEATON

He also liked to surprise. One of his signature marks was to highlight the backs of his clothes with detached panelling, added volume or trains for example. 

Whilst Dior’s New Look created headlines, it was a look that was very much of its era. Balenciaga’s creations however, so free and unstructured in comparison, were the truly revolutionary of the two. His silhouettes would go on to influence the shape of fashion into the 1960s and ultimately, to shape fashion as we know it. 

EPILOGUE

Following his retirement in 1968, the house of Balenciaga was left to languish. Nicolas Ghesquiere had a new vision for the future of the label when he took the helm in 1997 but it was not until the Gucci Group bought the brand in 2001 that he had the backing to build on his ideas. After fifteen successful years with the label and having returned the name of Balenciaga to the forefront of fashion, Ghesquiere announced his departure in November 2012. 

His successor, New York-based designer Alexander Wang, promises something different for the future of the label. Winning accolades and fans alike, his own label showcases his urban, sportswear approach to design. This marked difference in styles could make for an interesting evolution of the Balenciaga look and whilst Wang’s first two collections have been a safe homage to the brand’s heritage, Paris Fashion Week in March will be a good indicator of just how he plans to take the label forward.

Cristobal Balenciaga: 21 January 1895 - 24 March 1972