The visionary French designer, who dressed some of the most iconic women of the 20th century, has passed away aged 91.
He designed the legendary little black dress for Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and was responsible for some of Jacqueline Kennedy’s and Grace Kelly’s chicest looks.
So the world is truly mourning the passing of French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, who died at the age of 91 on March 11.
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The aristocrat, who founded the house of Givenchy in 1952, rose to fame during that decade, when he also became a cinematic legend due to his collaborations with Hepburn.
Givenchy first lent the actress clothes for the 1954 film Sabrina, after which she became his muse for 40 years.
The designer also dressed the star, who passed away in 1993, for films including 1957’s Funny Face and 1966’s How to Steal a Million.
“Givenchy’s clothes are the only ones in which I feel myself. He is more than a designer, he is a creator of personality,” Hepburn once said of her friend.
Regarded as one of the design world’s most enduring and elegant presences, the 6′ 6 designer also worked alongside Pierre Balmain and Christian Dior before setting up his eponymous label.
His label paid tribute to its iconic founder on social media as news of his passing broke, revealing “he will be greatly missed”.
“The House of Givenchy pays homage to its founder Hubert de Givenchy, a major personality of the world of French haute couture and a gentleman who symbolised Parisian chic and elegance for more than half a century,” a post on the Givenchy Instagram account read, alongside a portrait of the designer.
“His enduring influence and his approach to style reverberates to this day.”
Born into a noble French family in 1927, Givenchy moved to Paris aged 17 to study fashion, and debuted his first collection aged just 24.
Aside from Hepburn, his notable clients included American First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore a Givenchy suit to the funeral of her husband, President John F Kennedy, in 1963.
Givenchy also dressed screen legend and Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly.
In recent years, the label has dressed everyone from Jordan’s HM Queen Rania al Abdullah, Margot Robbie and Meryl Streep.
The designer sold his couture house to LVMH in 1988, though stayed on as head of creative design until his retirement in 1995.
John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Riccardo Tisci have all since served as creative directors of the label, with former Chloé designer Clare Waight Keller currently helming the house.
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“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,” Keller wrote on Instagram this week.
“The definition of a true gentleman, that will stay with me forever.”
He may be gone, but Givenchy’s legacy will truly live on.
Images: Getty
