Elegance is instinctive. An inherent sensibility, it is founded in codes that seduce our shared sense of sophistication: the drape of a chiffon dress, the curve of a sculpted neckline, the grace of a hand-painted flower. For the Spring-Summer 2024 Women’s Collection, Givenchy reflects on a collective comprehension of elegance as shaped by the genetics of its own heritage and a present-day desire for simplicity. Through his instinctive approach to the Maison, Artistic Director Matthew M. Williams composes through technical notes a contemporary grammar of elegance mirrored in the ease of the real wardrobe mentality of the women who surround him.
Silhouettes suspend the rigid and the relaxed. Architectonic hourglass tailoring in gentleman’s wools is sculpted with half-moon curves along necklines and hemlines. Jackets and dresses with plunging or winged open backs evoke the language of haute couture. Conversely, softly structured double-breasted blazers cut an enveloping frame echoed in contemporary takes on opera coats constructed in delicate duchesse satin. The skirt suit is re-invigorated with pedestaling ankle-length skirts and flight jackets.
An undying symbol of elegance, the flower is entrenched within the archives of Hubert de Givenchy whose passion for gardens Matthew M. Williams shares as a source of recreation and inspiration. Florals inform the collection’s palette and materialise throughout, in embroideries and hand-painted motifs, in prints, and sculpted metal jewellery. Lace, a trope of elegance central to the Maison, is re-activated in the volants of dresses. Jewels transform into clothing in latticed pearl, glass and crystal grid dresses and skirts.
Appropriating evening codes for day, flou re-energises Givenchy’s emblematic draping in second-skin filtrage dresses sheathed, ruched and knotted within translucent overlays. A series of dresses are spliced from different fabrics – chiffon, taffeta, organza – adorned with the same floral print. Mud silk, a Ming Dynasty dying technique in which silk is submersed in river mud, conveys an oscillating leathery effect in graceful dresses, some embraced in gestural shrugs across the bust. The material enters into an exchange with leather tailoring with hardware detailing adapted from the Voyou bag.
