“TO GO forward, you have to go back to the beginning” are the words written by Sarah Burton in the show notes for her debut collection for Givenchy.
Having spent her entire career, first as the right-hand woman to Lee Alexander McQueen and then as his successor for 13 years, the transition from the British brand to this storied French Maison marked not only a change for her but a return a long-awaited return to a more female-focused era.
Consistently hailed for her ability to craft clothes that evoke confidence in the wearer and most notably flatter the form, her arrival here, after a year and a half of no lead designer, was met with a triumphant approval by the fashion crowd to revive this muted legacy brand. So this morning in Paris, in the historic address 3 Avenue George V, Burton returned to the very roots of Givenchy, purposefully beginning her journey as its new Artistic Director in the place it all started for Hubert de Givenchy.
Upon uncovering a hidden cupboard during the renovation of its first Maison at 8 Avenue de Vigny, she found a stack of brown paper packets that contained the calico patterns of the very first couture collection from the founder in 1952. It was here that Burton found an immediate affiliation with him as just as he does, everything begins and ends with the atelier.
“It’s my natural instinct to go back to pattern-cutting, to craftsmanship. To cut, shape and proportion. It’s what I feel, how I work and want to do,” she outlined. So with this in mind, her centre point was tailoring – an element of her work that sees her as an industry leader. Merging traditionally masculine techniques with a very raw feminine, yet contemporary shape, she stripped back all excess and honed in on construction, playing with every angle that you can view a woman. “Strength, vulnerability, emotional intelligence, feeling powerful or very sexy. All of it.”
Stronger shoulders, cinched waists, distinct cut-outs, gigantic bows and oodles of organza fabric add dimension. There were explosions of vibrant colour and there were also muted two-piece Herringbone pairings. There was a standout backwards, structural blazer dress that was already saved in my Favourites folder, a dress made from compact mirrors and even a top crafted from chandelier glass.
This felt like a clean slate, commercially incredibly viable and also very youthful – a part of her job is to make Givenchy cool again, and these looks are a definite turn in the right direction.
More obvious hints of the past were there however as a designer she is not one to follow an already-trodden path. She didn’t copy Lee at McQueen, so we shouldn’t expect her to copy and paste from the archives here. Chantilly lace, 50s-inspired bullet-bras and cocoon backs all gave a respectable nod to the foundations of the Maison without it feeling like she has looked too heavily at a textbook.
The standing ovation at the end said it all. Once again, and without fail, Burton had created a collection that made women feel seen. Elegance, power and hints of rebellion – isn’t that what Hubert did?
by Imogen Clark