GIVENCHY’s Artistic Director Clare Waight Keller explored definitions and limits of gender in her Spring/Summer 2019 collection, which showed in Paris yesterday. The androgynous collection, themed “I Am Your Mirror,” took inspiration from Swiss writer and photographer Annemarie Schwarzenbach, along with musicians Lou Reed and Nico from The Velvet Underground.
Schwarzenbach wrote in her book All the Roads are Open: “… I can’t always tell memories from dreams, and often I mistake dreams, coming to life again in colours, smells, sudden associations, with the eerie secret certainty of a past life from which time and space divide me no differently and no better than a light sleep in the early hours.”
Raised as a boy, Schwarzenbach blurred gender lines. She was androgynous in appearance, bisexual and lived a life that constantly challenged gender norms, even amidst the collapsing Weimar Republic in the 1930s. As her works reveal, she was intrepid and restless but intensely passionate.
Understanding a little about Schwarzenbach adds dimension to the Waight Keller’s thinking behind her impeccably tailored, subtly sexy collection. Through the theme of mirroring and reflections, the designer looks at “the Givenchy couple”, exploring how “female and male [mirror] each other and cross-pollinat[ing] their gender characteristics.”
The Givenchy SS19 collection purposefully fused womenswear and menswear to some extent, at least in terms of shared silhouettes and sharp cuts. The opening blue dress was striking, showing off a sculptural creased technique borrowed straight from the couture atelier. One could feel a sense of Schwarzenberg’s international lifestyle (she was part of the first woman team ever to drive to Afghanistan) in the high waist paper bag trouser looks and military-inspired details.
Gender nonconformity aside, there remained a swath of Givenchy drama in floral prints for both men and women and eveningwear with low-cut jumpsuits and a variety of striking gowns. The gents also got leather trenches, sequined trousers and military-inspired shirts, pieces that all kept with the overriding androgyny and sense of adventure.
Since taking the artistic helm of Givenchy last year, Clare Waight Keller has brought her own touch to everything, perhaps too quietly at times. This time she’s not going to fade into the background, making her mark while maintaining a keen respect for the heritage and exquisite craftsmanship that have marked the brand’s designs for decades. It is no understatement to say Clare Waight Keller has now fully come into her own at Givenchy.
by Jessica Quillin