Iconic French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy has passed away at the age of 91.
Givenchy was renowned for creating famous, unforgettable looks for Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Jackie Kennedy. He is best known for the "little black dress" worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Incidentally, this year at the Oscar’s Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman wore a Givenchy custom design.
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Speaking about their partnership, Audrey Hepburn had said, “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.”
While her black sheath dress became the epitome of elegant simplicity, the Givenchy-Hepburn friendship lasted for 40 years. She was his muse, as he designed her suits and woollen dresses for the musical Funny Face in 1957, and the light-hearted heist caper How to Steal a Million in 1966.
The designer, who went on to achieve legendary status, hailed from an aristocratic background. He had worked alongside Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior after World War Two. Givenchy had been employed by avant-garde designer Elsa Schiaparelli. He left to set up his own fashion house in 1952. To him goes the credit for introducing the concept of "separates" - blouse, skirt, jacket and trouser combinations that could be mixed and matched.Renowned for his own personal elegance and impeccable manners, he achieved high fame in the 1950s. For three decades he went on to dress some of the most beautiful women in the world.
His celebrity customers included US First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore one of his designs to President John F Kennedy's funeral in 1963. Screen legend Grace Kelly, who went on to become princess of Monaco, was another famous client.
Givenchy sold his fashion house to luxury brand LVMH in 1988, before he retired.
The iconic French designer embodied an era of elegance, marked by couture that was created out of a special and individual relationship with the client.
