I think the whole industry was surprised when Riccardo Tisci announced that he was hosting his Spring/Summer 2016 Givenchy collection in New York. It left us questioning what exactly he would deliver come the day of the show.
Would he delve into the archives and dig up those inspirations from when Hubert Givenchy dressed the lady that is Audrey Hepburn for Breakfast at Tiffany's, or would he deliver pure Riccardo Tisci- adding his own dark, gothic yet extremely romantic aesthetic on top of that classicism? Or, would he stick to what other designers have been doing season after season at New York Fashion Week, conforming to this sport luxe trend? Perhaps he would re-define the trend which has just become so ubiquitous that,frankly, no one, except Michael Kors, has been able to escape from.
As this collection marked Tisci's 10th anniversary at the house, it seemed only fitting that he should showcase a re-imagined retrospective of his collections. By retrospective I mean a journey back through time, bringing some of his past iconic works into the future to, perhaps, give us a sense of who the Givenchy Woman will be now she has been introduced into the digital era.
Yesterday also marked the 14th anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers. With both of these in mind, the main inspirations for the collection were love, faith and diversity. It was a remembrance and a meditation of both, however partly celebrating how America has developed into such a loving, diverse country, in contrast to let's say the 1950s.
Personally, I thought it was great how Tisci brought together everyone for this installation, with a 2500 strong audience, including 800 members of the public (rare), practically every A-lister you could imagine, from Kim and Kanye to Julia Roberts and on top of that the most diverse model-casting I have seen in a long time.
In terms of the retrospective vibe, Tisci re-introduced us to an accumulation of his special haute couture moments , from the silky bandage tops which sat loosely around the bust, over a pair of slouchy, sartorially cut trousers (as modelled by Kendall Jenner), and we had those luxurious lace slip dresses- which reminded us of the delicacy and intimacy of lingerie. Tisci also experimented with the classic le smoking tuxedo, playing with the ideas of formality and tailoring- adding couture details like tufts of lace and structured iridescent fabrics.
My favourite pieces were the fluid evening gowns, the attention to detail was literally incredible- the pearl beadings with ombréd feather trains. They definitely took us back to Haute Couture days.
The closing piece, the ornate balloon tulle gown, worn by Joan Smalls, actually moved me. I know you'll say we're only talking about clothes but it was so incredible to me to see something so beautiful yet so powerful on display. And that is perhaps why fashion is understood to be a language in itself.
In terms of the beauty side of things, Tisci brought in makeup artist Pat McGrath to resuscitate those extraordinary couture bejewelled masks and headpieces. As seen in previous collections like last season's Chola Victoriana, for example. I'm not sure about you, my dear readership, but I adore these. They just give off the type of pure beauty that is virtually unattainable.
The clothes themselves spoke delicate creativity and commerce yet on such a huge conceptual scale, delivered with the greatest audacity that the show verged on a performance spectacle. I have to say, this was by far the most stunning Givenchy show I have ever seen. It hit me like a McQueen show, and that is very rare.
We didn't really see anything new in terms of design; we did, however, see more fabrics like Givenchy's recent launch of their array of denim, and on top of that we saw craftsmanship never before witnessed. It was strong and liberated. It was definitely Tisci's best collection to date.
Note: I do not own any of these images- courtesy of vogue.com
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