LadyJunon
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In the light of the appointement of Alessandro Valenti as CEO, I thought that it would be a good time for us to discuss the past and the potential future of the enigma that is Givenchy. Givenchy's heritage is very extensive, but its language is very abstract. Aside from Hepburn's iconic black dress, the brand doesn't have a core set of "Givenchy Design Elements" for designers to immediately refer to. This is mainly due to the fact that, throughout Hubert's 43 years at the brand, he was regularly modernising and reinventing his look.
Due to this extensive, but abstract heritage, Givenchy's work was been reinterpreted in radically different ways by his successors. Galliano, McQueen and MacDonald had quite a hyperbolic, dramatised vision, that often referenced the brand's designs from the 50s and 80s. Tisci's take on Givenchy was very liberal and abstract, focusing more on radical modernity than on reverence. Waight Keller's approach was much truer-to-form with the heavy Hubert-era references. Williams moved back to a basic, low-brow version of Tisci.
Alessandro Valenti has a very important decision to make in terms of what sort of brand Givenchy should be to stand out in LVMH and the industry. If Givenchy shifts to become a extremely refined couture house, that puts it in direct competition with much larger brands like Dior and Chanel. If Givenchy goes in the opposite direction, they'll have to compete with louder brands like Balenciaga and Loewe. Personally, I think they need a Ghesquiere/Tisci-type who can bring an element of cool to Givenchy without rejecting the aristocratic chicthat justifies the brand's hefty price point.