Riccardo Tisci - Designer

[brian]

.... i can't wait to see what he does with the house

PARIS - After a wait of almost one year, Givenchy has named Italy’s Riccardo Tisci to be the house’s creative director of women’s wear.

Tisci, 30, will make his Givenchy debut in July in Paris, when he presents a Fall/Winter 2005 haute couture collection for the house. He is the fourth designer to have succeeded Hubert de Givenchy ever since the retirement of Audrey Hepburn’s favorite designer in the mid nineties.

The young Italian will be also be responsible for designing the women’s ready-to-wear and women’s accessory collections for Givenchy.

“I am delighted to join Givenchy and feel honored to be able to bring my own vision to this legendary French couture house, whose history is a great inspiration to me,” Tisci said in a statement.

Tisci succeeds Welshman Julian Macdonald who joined Givenchy in March 2001, and left three years later. Macdonald succeeded fellow Celt Alexander McQueen, who departed to create his own fashion house financed by the Gucci Group, the bitter rival of French luxury group LVMH, the owner of Givenchy. McQueen had replaced fellow Brit John Galliano, who decamped to beginning his successful reign at Christian Dior.

The appointment of the relatively unknown Tisci caught the fashion world by surprise, particularly as the designer still has only a fledgling fashion house, albeit it one launched in 1999. Moreover, he marks the latest designer whose own personal oeuvre is a considerable leap from that of le Grand Hubert himself.

The company founder was admired for his signature sober lady-like elegance and super refined couture; Tisci has won plaudits for his iconoclastic, conceptual approach. His own signature show last week in Milan featured an incense infused set, giant wooden cross, blonde virgin, funeral pyre and models slinking around like sacrilegious mourners in gloomy lighting.

The statement said that Tisci “will design exclusively for Givenchy,” though it remained unclear whether he will continue to produce his own signature collection.

Heralding the arrival of Tisci at Givenchy, the house’s CEO, and fellow Italian, Marco Gobbetti said Tisci’s “talent, his modern creativity, and the elegance of his creations are essential to leading Givenchy into the future.”

The Nigerian-born and London-based designer Ozwald Boateng designs Givenchy’s men’s collection.

Tisci began designing at the age of 17 before moving to London, where he studied at Central Saint Martin’s College. He’s the fourth graduate of that school to have replaced Hubert, and bets are already being placed on whether he will outlast the tenure of the great couturier’s three British successors.

- Godfrey Deeny

Fashion Wire Daily February 28, 2005

 

[mdankwah]

Who's this new designer

 

[mdankwah]

here's an image from his winter 05-06 show

http://http://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/photos/Default.aspx?ShowID=2482

 

[metal-on-metal]

Was just about to post this! I'm excited for him and I hope he can deliver. Must be horrible to have a couture show as your first collection for a new house! I'm sure the pressure is on.

 

[Clementine]

^I know! I already feel nervous for the poor guy... I'm interested to see what he does, though...

 

[softgrey]

this really feels like it came out of nowhere...

i really liked his latest collection...but it's true that it isn't very givenchy...
at least the couture should be interesting...

 

[Spacemiu]

I'm so exited for this, I love him, like i said beforn he is one of my favorite new designers. His couture should be something special.

 

[kit]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1428233,00.html

Interesting to see who rejected the post , and who were rejected .

From the WWD article on his A/W 05/06 show , it seems Nicolas Ghesquiere also turned down this poisoned chalice .

 

[droogist]

Tisci's a peculiar choice, but no more peculiar (and far more preferable, imo) than McQueen or MacDonald. I wish I knew someone in management at Givenchy so I could grill them about why they repeatedly refuse to hire anyone whose work looks anything at all like classic Givenchy...I find it quite mystifying. Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing where Tisci takes the house.

 

[LibertyRose]

Tisci is Carine Roitfeld's favorite new French designer. I just read about that in the latest Vanity Fair.

I was surprised to see his work featured on Style.com. I have never heard of him before.

He didn't blow me away. He struck me as very minimalist and a bit gothic. I want to be surprised by his first collection, but right now I am quite disappointed. I wish Roland Mouret or Sophia Kokosalaki would've gotten the job.

As for the Givenchy designers that came before him, I thought both Galliano and McQueen were sensible choices since both men have displayed a talent for couture, but Julien MacDonald was odd. He did go on to produce several classic Breakfeast-at-Tiffany kind of couture collections, but it felt quite forced and not him at all.

 

[cigaretiquette]

oh oh
sure worthy of my humble applause

 

[Lena]

fresh on the success of Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy
pictured, a look from his first Givenchy Couture collection few weeks ago

RICCARDO TISCI is already doing it for Givenchy. The ex-Coccapani designer landed the job of creative director at the French house by refusing to mention Audrey Hepburn in his interview, and it seems that new blood is already creating a buzz for the label. Following the success of his couture show in Paris last week, Tisci's resort collection has already threatened to create a bidding war between London's top retailers and Harvey Nichols announced yesterday that it had an exclusive on it for November. "It's a long time since I've seen dresses as beautiful as these," says Coco Chan, Women's Contemporary Buyer at Harvey Nicks. "The most immaculate jersey pieces at sensible prices. What's great about Tisci's work is the respect he pays to the Givenchy archives, without being too literal. His signature shines through. The woman who wears Lanvin or understands the conceptual beauty of Balenciaga would now wear Givenchy." (July 26 2005, AM)

agreed with Coco Chan

text & photo from vogue .uk

 

[JuiceMajor]

dark understated glamour?

 

[Diorling]

I love her name...Coco Chan(el)...hahaha...


Anyways I dont think the dresses are much to get all worked up over, though the pics were crap, I didnt think the collection was that good.

 

[Lena]

i'm posiive he'll be the new rage in fashion, watch and see...
Riccardo is uber talented

 

[Estella*]

i agree. thanks for reminding us, lena. that collection was really dreamingly beautiful

 

[Hanne]

Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy couture fall05
Images from style.com

 

[Hanne]

I have to agree w. you Lena..I for one am looking very much forward to his collections for Givenchy !
Images from style.com

 

[taz]

can't wait to see what will be in stores? & what kind of handbags, fragrances & ads. he'll introduce.

i think givenchy needed to be shaken up to introduce the new era...especialy after julian mcdonald.

 

[liberty33r1b]

thanks for the article, lena.