Givenchy Bids Adieu to Couture Runway

Ugh, how horrible. Givenchy was one of the few I actually looked forward to for couture season. So I'm assuming they're going the versace route and just releasing pictures? What a pity. Would've been great to see the clothes move like usual on the runway, gives you a better vision of the clothes.
 
this is sad but its a very good idea. this is about client relations. Givenchy is carving out its own marketshare it will have Celebs at RTW shows for press. but it can really focus on the quality of its clothes and not the flash of the show. i bet you his couture biz is going to to do Chanel numbers in 5 years for this move.
 
Apparently, they are doing a presentation, rather than a runway show. With 10 looks instead of the 22 they had last season.

Exciting reminder: The fall 2010 couture collections begin July 5, which is only two weeks from today! And a little bit of a downer, but easy to get over once you understand the reasoning: Givenchy won't show its couture collection on the runway. Also, their new collection will only consist of ten looks, less than half of the label's spring 2010 couture collection, which included 22 looks, described by Suzy Menkes as "a wild rave of evening clothes." Instead, the label will invite editors and clients to view the collection — which will include no black, Tisci says — in private appointments beginning July 6, held in a fabulous eighteenth-century townhouse on the Place Vendôme in Paris.

The new format is not to save money, Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci explained to WWD in an interview with Pierre-Yves Roussel, chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s fashion division. "I want to make couture even more special than it is, and not just another catwalk show," Tisci said. "People can really experience the couture moment: See it, touch it." The presentation, Tisci and Roussel explained, would likely cost about 35 percent more than the runway show. And the format makes sense, after Menkes called Tisci's last "wild rave" of a couture show "frustrating as just 22 models whizzed by in high speed." This way, she can see each look up close at length, on top of models like Lara Stone and Mariacarla Boscono.

While the presentation seems like a less ostentatious method of unveiling a small lot of some of the globe's most expensive clothes as the world crawls out of a terrible economic downturn, Tisci and Roussel also have their bottom line in mind.

The designer noted Givenchy’s most devoted couture clients, including assorted royals, do not attend the shows for reasons of privacy and security. And roughly 70 percent alter designs in some way, meaning that a smaller collection and scaled-back theatrics pose no obstacles to a strong season. Couture represents a “special, high-level service,” which the new format reflects, he said.

Of course they don't want to bother with the scene of a fashion show, waiting for Ciara to arrive 40 minutes late, pushing over the "normal people" to get to their seats, possibly not being able to see a shoe here and there. Rather than watching the show like any old concert, the wealthy clients can feel like they have a backstage pass.

Source: The Cut
 
It sounds like a cost-cutting excuse. They don't want to panic anyone into thinking they have hit hard times and so they vehemently deny cost-cutting and even go as far as to say it'll cost 35% MORE to show a ten-piece preview collection...
Another kick for couture.
 
sorry creative but i wholeheartedly disagree with you about "shows". presentation are much more intimate and they allow you to see the clothes up close and personal. to me that's more magical than any production can ever capture,imo.

and i'm sorry but the whole catwalk experience isn't always what it's all cracked up to be. usually they're tediously slow to start,over-crowded(especially something like givenchy)and you have to deal with snotty elitists.....etc. etc.
 
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It sounds like a cost-cutting excuse. They don't want to panic anyone into thinking they have hit hard times and so they vehemently deny cost-cutting and even go as far as to say it'll cost 35% MORE to show a ten-piece preview collection...
Another kick for couture.

yeah i don't really buy that either.
 
It doesn't sound too bad to me. I really trust Riccardo's understanding of fashion and the way it should be presented, so moving on to a more exclusive, intimate territory and concentrating on very specific demands and looks will only push him to get even more creative.

Agree with that, it actually makes me sort of excited. Think of the F/W 2005 couture presentation - I don't believe that Riccardo leaves us with nothing ^_^
 
It sounds like a cost-cutting excuse. They don't want to panic anyone into thinking they have hit hard times and so they vehemently deny cost-cutting and even go as far as to say it'll cost 35% MORE to show a ten-piece preview collection...
Another kick for couture.

the funny thing is it wont be cheaper at all. depending on how small the client groups are they could end up showing the collection 20 times for clients from across the globe. which is the old way it was done. you had Couture models who only worked for the house and if these models are blue chip in 2010 its going to cost them a pretty penny to keep someone like lara who is working for everyone.
the funny thing is he wanted to show couture Like this from the start. he was forced by editors thru bullying to put his couture on a runway which we first saw in A/w 2006 now that the tide has turned and Givenchy is not only thriving but profitable it's time for Tisci's world which means shows in the way he likes to show small installations.
 
It makes sense that Couture should be shown in private salons with clients rather than press and critics but like all, I am disappointed.

One thing I don't understand is how making Givenchy Couture more exclusive they are shooting lookbooks with top models and publicizing their images the same way in which they would publicize their runway images? How is it more exclusive?
Also, these images will be used in magazines like any other previous season, unless they are going to bar editors from coming?

I just don't understand the difference between having smaller presentations and having large-scale runway shows. The runway shows seem to please both clients (who go to the private salons either way after the show) and editors / media.

This 'presentation' idea seems to cause more problems than it does solve them, no?
 
I screamed NOOOOOOOO! when I saw the title. Glad there's gonna be a presentation. But why mess up with something that already works?
 
^the exclusivity is having those unseen,one-of-a-kind gowns and pieces created for private clients. i mean in a presentation of only 10 looks....there are bound to be other things in the collection....variations of something.

agiles,i completely agree with you...this is definitely a riccardo measure as it's always been his preference to do things on a smaller scale. and at the moment givenchy is LVMH's most popular house thanks to tisci so indeed,it's about time they let him have his way a bit.
 
Scott the more i think this thru he has been planning this for a while the dramatic reduction in looks on his runway for couture is A game the stuff for press is on the runway the things for clients are kept private. each season 10- 12 looks from the couture shows get published so why waste anymore looks?
clients dont want to wear things that have been in Mags at all. this is smart
 
as long as i get detail hq pics, they can have it in Tisci's garage for all i care. Well, they could embelish it a bit to give it the right athmosfere..
 
This is how haute couture should be in the first place. Wise desicion. Runway shows are for ready-to-wear because that's more for the consumers. I know it sounds elitist but couture are only for those private clients who has top money to purchase them; to only have that one piece created for them.
seeing couture on a red carpet event (and their pics all over the place) probably enrages those more incognito clients who probably purchased the same one that thought "only I own this gown."

Exclusivity matters in haute couture.
 
^ But chances are if a couture piece is showing up on a red carpet, it hasn't been purchased by anyone yet. I believe couture clients can ensure that they're the only person to buy a design (and therefore the only person to be seen wearing it, besides the model on the runway). You also have to take into account that not all couture clients end up purchasing a piece exactly how it appears on a runway. So the exclusivity of haute couture isn't entirely dependent on who gets to see the clothes and who doesn't.

Ultimately I guess I'm fine with not seeing the couture collections on the runway anymore, even though I personally loathe static presentations for the most part. But showing a measly 10 looks to the press seems pointless. Either show a full collection or don't show anything at all.
 
I've always wondered if there has been a few slip ups and clients have seen there dresses on celebs and thrown a fit.

Imgine being the lady who purchased Nicole Kidman's green chartreuse Dior gown she wore to the 1997 Oscars. If you believe the rumour where Nic went after the lady who was on holiday to beg her to loan the dress I wouldn't be surprised if the client didn't want it anymore. If she wore it anywhere people would have been all "Why are you wearing Nicole's Oscar dress".

I don't know if it was Couture but I remember Nan Kempner wearing another dress that Nicole had already worn. Nicole looks 10 times better in it too.
 
a couple of things: first, it's great that houses like givenchy (and i predict eventually gaultier) will reduce their exposure and take it to a more exclusive place. that's fine. give me red carpet photos of socialites going in. high quality pictures of the garments shown inside. as a fashion observer, it's a great FIRST step.

what worries me is that the week of the couture needs publicity and dior, chanel, elie saab, and others don't create excitement. the less we see the couture splashed around in a big way, the more it becomes in danger of just going away. seriously, i'd rather givenchy present haute couture with more publicity than it does RESORT. i'd rather admire super-expensive supremely garments than watered down less potent offerings presented as pre-fall and resort.
 

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