Givenchy S/S 2021 Paris

[Ghesquiere32]

I like it especially over any of Claire’s boring collections

 

[Kimihiro]

A bit underwhelmed but I can see the potential if he won’t dilute it and lets his mind run freely. The accessories which were supposed to be the star were lost in the sea of uninspired clothing.

Anyways he framed it as a preview, I hope next season he brings out more of the audacious elements this collection had, like those horns and jewelry, no matter how unoriginal they are.

I get that he’s trying to do mass appeal, but that didn’t stop him before when he was making things for Gaga.

 

[JohannesL]

His aesthetic does give Givenchy some new identities, but I always feel that if you are not going to follow the house codes, you should do it on your own name. After all, Givenchy is the kind of brand that is reminiscent of elegance and femininity.

 

[Lola701]

His aesthetic does give Givenchy some new identities, but I always feel that if you are not going to follow the house codes, you should do it on your own name. After all, Givenchy is the kind of brand that is reminiscent of elegance and femininity.

The problem with a house like Givenchy is that the house codes are a bit difficult to identify. Givenchy became famous for designing easy to wear separates for Schiaparelli. Prior to Hepburn, his big hit was maybe the Bettina blouse. His biggest influence was Balenciaga so most of his clothes had that purity in the line but despite doing very chic collections (his work in the 70’s was quite fabulous), his work never really left a mark in fashion. It’s a bit like Balmain in a way. Their work was good but not exceptional enough to stand out in it own (it’s harsh to say that I know). So suddenly, you have all the movies Givenchy did with Audrey that kinda framed his aesthetic for a period of time with recognizable looks. They are the defining moment of his career in a way. Because Hubert was an aristocrat, it was easier to create something around that...He became that chic gentleman who designed chic clothes for women. Inevitably his chic effortless elegance became more and more uptight towards the end of his career. Someone like Ungaro for example, who was a alumni of Balenciaga had a stronger, edgy aesthetic and survived better than Givenchy or Balmain overtime.

So, the problem for a longtime with Givenchy was how do you create something modern with such a great name!? Galliano tried to build something but it was too theatrical for the house. Lee was all over the place and completely forgot about the identity of the house. Julian was good for RTW but totally missed it in Couture. Riccardo found the right formula. We don’t associate chic with extreme colors or shapes and Riccardo earlier work was all about separates, easy to wear, simple shapes even if he added the drama of his presentation. Ozwald did a good job in menswear by adding his flair to a rather classic suit affair.

Even if overtime Riccardo went crazy, he created bases that made his Givenchy believable. It was maybe less joyful than what Hubert did but it was also very successful in a commercial level.

We saw it with Clare but a house like Givenchy cannot survive without the references to Tisci or even Lee. For the majority of people, Givenchy is the 60’s. Much like it was impossible for both Wang and Demna to not reference Nicolas’s work for Balenciaga. The successor of Rousteing will likely be a follower of the aesthetic created by Decarnin than the aesthetic of ODLR.

 

[WAVES]

His aesthetic does give Givenchy some new identities, but I always feel that if you are not going to follow the house codes, you should do it on your own name. After all, Givenchy is the kind of brand that is reminiscent of elegance and femininity.

THIS! ^

there’s A LOT going on and not in a good way.
there are a couple of interesting references but it’s also all so sterile...

I mean did he even bothered to look into the archives? we’re talking about the House of Givenchy dear Lord!!!

 

[GivenchyAddict]

^ he is not known for elegance and feminity and never claimed he was.

So it is pointless to expect that from him and LVMH did not hire him expecting that too. They knew very well what kind of "designer" he is and what he will do.

I don't like this collection. Just not for me and this collection gives me bad vibe like very dark but not in Tisci's way. Is it because of the horns and the whole styling by Lotta I don't know but I will not go near this new Givenchy.

Do I regret Clare? Hell no she was as bad as him.

 

[Lola701]

Why wouldn't he just do this at his own label? What's the point?

Because it gives him the legitimacy to copy things that he has always wanted to copy. Nobody can call him out to copy Lee’s horn heels because it’s in the Givenchy archives. He can copy the hell out of Helmut Lang because Tisci made the connection...
And at Givenchy he has an expertise in terms of techniques even if he can’t handle it.

 

[GivenchyHomme]

It's lackluster and completely expected. I find it all so passé and lacking in any sense of taste. The tailored suites were obviously thrown in to counter balance the trashier pieces. Unfortunately, the trash is all that is worth talking about. I understand that they want to reach out to that god awful millennial demographic, but respect should still be paid to the heritage of the house. I'm astonished at how quickly these Conglomerates can mutilate these incredible Couture labels just to make a quick buck. Where is the integrity?

 

[TaylorBinque]

Undoubtedly, he has a vision for the House. My question here is whether he is able to execute it. This looks trash and no marketing can save it.

 

[eugenius]

All things considered, I don't think it's all that bad. We're talking about a young, maverick designer (whose own collections picked up any sort of clout on account of The Germ wearing it) who's presenting his first collection for a major house, all designed while the world's going to doo-doo. By my calculation, it's definitely a collection that falls under the banner of "it is what it is."

Big Yes to the water-bottle (it's wrapped in leather!), but hard No to the panty-hose w/ the conjoined toes.

 

[Cory333]

I liked this collection... admittedly I am also coming in as a newbie and following all the interesting discussions here, and I have no knowledge or expectations to fashion house legacies (or most at least). I am stunned a bit though that the crowd here liked Balenciaga or even Paco Rabanne more than this collection. Or the expectation levels are different? Compared to what I have seen so far, this collection at least has vision and thought in it.
But this is tacky and trash, and not Paco Rabanne, with underwear on the outside, glitz and leopard print? Somebody enlighten me please

 

[Phuel]

Because it gives him the legitimacy to copy things that he has always wanted to copy. Nobody can call him out to copy Lee’s horn heels because it’s in the Givenchy archives. He can copy the hell out of Helmut Lang because Tisci made the connection...
And at Givenchy he has an expertise in terms of techniques even if he can’t handle it.

Fair enough. Just tragic that it's a kid playing dressup and his mess is cleaned up by the professional team :sigh:

His references are so heavy-handed and so lazily crammed into the looks without even making the slightest effort to re-envision to his own version that it’s beyond sampling and just sloppy: Gaultier’s lock-closure on the suit jackets; Riccardo’s chunky silver embroideries on the sheer fabrics and chunky chains; Helmut’s entire archive from the ribbon dresses to the parkas; Clare’s geometric suitings etc etc. It’s all executed with the uninspired copycat approach of a design student who wears their idols’ fashion on their sleeves and presented in such a tame, junior department-store aesthetic. Even all the aggressive and fierce design elements of horns, chains and pick-locks end up looking so cute and sunny, like a Mouseketeer’s version of high fashion branded for Hot Topic and its corporate ilks. And if that’s the strategy— then he’s got it down pat.

 

[gossiping]

i like the ending and the bandage beige dress

 

[Overindulgence]

A rather anticlimactic debut but I will give him some time to ease in with all things considered, such as it being his debut and the whole pandemic going on; I also want to see what "world" he creates with the brand. If this was presented in 2016-2018, I might have felt some excitement but not so much now. Furthermore, I'm not sure if I agree with comments saying that this has an identity. I feel like I could have attributed this to Daniel Lee's Bottega, GMBH, and many independent brands. I am also seeing "fashion twitter" expressing unfavorable opinions towards this collection and while there are qualms with Fashion Twitter, they still could have an effect on part of the general public's opinion. I admit I actually like the dinosaur shoes and sandals though.

I am not sure what's wrong with LVMH, all of their brands emit such a clinical feeling now and every hyped up debut for a LVMH house in the past few years has been a let-down (besides JW for Loewe) but that's a whole other discussion.

 

[GivenchyAddict]

I liked this collection... admittedly I am also coming in as a newbie and following all the interesting discussions here, and I have no knowledge or expectations to fashion house legacies (or most at least). I am stunned a bit though that the crowd here liked Balenciaga or even Paco Rabanne more than this collection. Or the expectation levels are different? Compared to what I have seen so far, this collection at least has vision and thought in it.
But this is tacky and trash, and not Paco Rabanne, with underwear on the outside, glitz and leopard print? Somebody enlighten me please

Hmm to answer to your question regarding Paco Rabanne being validated by some people (I am one of them) and not liking Givenchy by Williams, I will say that it is all about the will or more the attempt.

Julien Dossena is from Nicolas Ghesquière’s « school » which is known to push ideas to a radical point and to really question people’s taste in general. That’s why it has always been a huge debate on every collection by Ghesquière as they are a lot to digest and to understand.
Julien’s approach is quite similar to that and he even works since his beginning at Paco Rabanne with Marie-Amelie Sauvé who is the right hand of Ghesquière since decades. So the leopard, the underwear and everything is much more about pushing the envelope, the ideas, imo.

However, Williams is a cool designer who worked for cool artists (Gaga, Kanye) and did a cool brand(Alyx) as a portfolio to get a big job like many of young designers do now. He did not push anything, question anything. He just wanted to be cool, still does, and make money from it. This collection is a big testimony: the caps with horns, the nail polish on men, the red thong with the black dress, the very Yeezy slippers, the "hommage" to tabi shoes with this three conjoined toes sandal, the leather underwear on male models very similar to Ludovic de Saint Sernin, the balenciaga spring summer 2019 look 73 among many other that he copied and so on.

He took the whole recipe of « coolness »: Lee’s archive, Riccardo’s mood, Helmut Lang’s silhouettes and Lotta’s provocative eye (that made Demna now at Balenciaga so successful to the hypebeasts). There is no authenticity, no love for design, for any legacy or even for women but just pure greed. That’s why I don’t like it.

Take a close look to Paco Rabanne collections, pay attention to the details, think about how everything has been made (the prints, the "chainmail", the embroidery), how everything has been put together and you may think differently.

 

[Cory333]

Thank you,great insight.

 

[PierreGotha]

There's too many elements and references in one collection. It feels overwhelming and forced when you look at it.

 

[TheoG]

It really doesn't help that Lotta has a hand in this, Balenciga influence is strong here imo.

 

[reese06]

For me, much of the women's separates look like contemporary and quite a few of the men's. Mesh tops? Not sure why someone found that women's knotted top interesting enough to make it a main focal point because it's not and if that's the depth of his design for the house, a lot of us are bound to be disappointed.

The men's white draped top is beautiful.

Something about this collection as a whole feels disingenuous and heavy. Some of the hardware feels juvenile and like trinkets. The handbags a bit too trendy, like upon first glance in store you think omg, i want this bag. i love the hardware and chain and then you take it back because of buyer's remorse or worse, it sits in the back of your closet. It's neither classic nor fashion forward. I hate the faux exotics, they look awful.

The women's shoes are especially trashy and tacky. The hats are cool in theory but the execution is awful. Like something you would find in the Nordstrom juniors department. I'm disappointed but giving everyone a pass this season, plus it's his first collection.

 

[Ruito]

Ahh I get you bud, I know what you mean it was definitely lacking energy. Where you from by the way?

I'm from Portugal!