WITH the blooming of flora and enchanted gardens proving to be a prominent theme throughout SS20 Haute Couture, French fashion house Givenchy‘s latest collection was no exception, having showcased a verdant symphony to depict the sapphic relationship between women and flowers.
The collection was unveiled in Paris on Tuesday, located in the wonderfully gothic Réfectoire des Cordeliers, where Franciscan monks lived for several centuries. A host of models dominated the runway amid the haunting melody of a pensile orchestra, recreating the romance and sombre shared between Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West.
The garden is a recurring metaphor at the very heart of Givenchy’s SS20 Couture collection, regarded by Clare Waight Keller as a “tapestry of time and circumstance”. The creative director drew inspiration from her visits to the garden rooms planted at Sissinghurst Castle, where she would frequent in reading the passionate love letters between Woolf and Sackville-West, describing it as “one of the most romantic places in England”.
Pale shades are used to reflect both the ambiance and scenery of the White Garden of Sissinghurst Castle, while stand out elements included glossy silk tailoring, plissé checks and jacquard and cloqué fabrics adorned with meticulous embroidery. Cornflower blues, blushing pinks, lavender purples emphasised the summer garden colour palette. Parachute skirts and fishtail hems transformed the models into petal-shaped, blossoming silhouettes.
Pristine flower-lace gowns designed by Hubert de Givenchy in the era of Audrey Hepburn certainly served as inspiration for Clare Waight Keller for the collection. She concluded the show with Kaia Gerber as a fantasy bride paragon, in an off-the-shoulder floral lace white dress encased in an exaggerated veil-like hat which extended all the way to the floor.
by Cara Jenkins