GIVENCHY - TOP 5

Yesterday was a momentous day for the house of Givenchy. Riccardo Tisci took the Internet by storm by announcing that 1200 tickets to the SS2016 presentation would be available to members of the public, a move designed to celebrate both the launch of a New York flagship store last week and the opening of a flagship in Milan which will coincide with the show on September 11th. Givenchy is one of the industry's longest-running fashion houses; founded in 1952 by Hubert de Givenchy, the house quickly gained a reputation for its elegant couture pieces and its sartorial links with icons such as Jackie Kennedy and Audrey Hepburn. The brand has come a long way, recruiting legendary designers such as Alexander McQueen and John Galliano along the road. Since his appointment in 2005, Tisci has nurtured a new, darker aesthetic and catapulted the brand to huge mainstream success. To celebrate his first decade at the house and his decision to make high-fashion more accessible, here are five of Givenchy's greatest collections.

Xiao Wen Ju wearing Givenchy Couture, A/W 2011

IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE

With its corrugated iron backdrop and thumping techno soundtrack, “It’s A Jungle Out There” (which can be seen in full here) is possibly McQueen’s most industrial collection to date. It is interesting that when giving interviews on the collection, the designer stated that the mood of the show was based on the Thompson’s gazelle – elaborating, he explained that “it’s got these dark eyes, the white and black with the tan markings on the side, the horns – but it is the food chain of Africa. As soon as it’s born, it’s dead. You’re lucky if it lasts a few months, and that’s how I see human life; in the same way. You know, we can all be discarded quite easily. You’re there, you’re gone – it’s a jungle out there". 

LA POUPEE

McQueen continued his streak of success with his S/S 1997 collection, La Poupée (which can be seen in full here) – a collection inspired by the work of twisted German puppeteer Hans Bellmer, renowned for his freaky female mannequins who were often contorted or deformed. Considering that Bellmer’s work was designed to oppose Nazi definitions of beauty, the fact that McQueen was inspired by the artist seems natural; both tend to work within the realm of the grotesque and the mutated, and both take pleasure in rebellion. 

Staying true to his signature showmanship, the designer crafted an extraordinary set which featured a flight of steps leading down to a flooded runway. The models all had blunt fringes cut to highlight cheekbones which were almost artificial in their severity, whilst their eyes were surrounded by bold sweeps of metallic silver eyeshadow. Many of the girls also wore heavy facial jewellery in the form of protruding spikes or silver cylinders which orbited the face, whereas the African model Debra Shaw created the most memorable imagery of the show by attempting to walk the runway whilst shackled with metal body jewellery. As usual the press rushed to create controversy, stating that a black woman in chains had to represent slavery – as usual the press were wrong, and McQueen chose the outfit because he liked the delicate way that it made the model walk, somewhere between demented and beautiful.