Sarah Burton - Designer, Creative Director of Givenchy

[FashionPower]

I know People hating on Williams but if it wasn't for his effort in the of the shark lock boots revamp, the Antigona tweaking with the slouchy version and the release of the Vouyou bags Givenchy would have performed worse than Sabato's Gucci, which means completely irrelevancy in both fashion conversation and actual customers.

 

[FashionPower]

We only had 1 show, 5 Redcarpet looks and you guys are already criticizing her tenure as if we are already in 2 years.
We can’t again criticize the state of the industry if every creative director is crucified in such a short time.

But then again, Blazy’s whole tenure has been criticized already with one announcement and 1 official portrait…

It's mostly because people were expecting her to deliver what she was known for, hence exquisite tailoring and instead were flabbergasted at the sight of those sloppy suits, Alaia lookalike bodycon fishnet dresses and overwhelming tulle overlord. That debut collection was a major disappointment from People Who were used to her Mcqueen impeccable tailoring with the fashion forawrdness twist.
Late Mcqueen Burton felt more Givenchy than her actual Givenchy debut honestly.
With Clare we had basically a Zara collection as a debut collection (remember those tacky lips print) but it felt more cohesive and less all over the Place compared to Sarah.
I'm sorry but I still think Williams was the Best from the three recent creative directors.

 

[Lola701]

It's mostly because people were expecting her to deliver what she was known for, hence exquisite tailoring and instead were flabbergasted at the sight of those sloppy suits, Alaia lookalike bodycon fishnet dresses and overwhelming tulle overlord. That debut collection was a major disappointment from People Who were used to her Mcqueen impeccable tailoring with the fashion forawrdness twist.
Late Mcqueen Burton felt more Givenchy than her actual Givenchy debut honestly.
With Clare we had basically a Zara collection as a debut collection (remember those tacky lips print) but it felt more cohesive and less all over the Place compared to Sarah.
I'm sorry but I still think Williams was the Best from the three recent creative directors.

Not liking her collection is one thing, doubting her entire tenure already is a stretch.

I was not a fan of her McQueen but it wasn’t because the clothes were bad, the visuals were terrible, the stores horrible or the PR questionable. Actually, it was coherent and she proved that she is a totally capable CD.

The thing for me is that her McQueen could have been Givenchy. She made it about flowers and a kind of edgy prettiness overtime. So in a way, she has to reframe her repertoire to basically do the same thing.

But I need time to see her language develop at Givenchy before having a definitive opinion on the thing.

Williams was terrible. But at least, he was consistent in it. I was more disappointed with Clare precisely because she didn’t have a vision. She was clearly unfocused despite having a talent.


One could say that people were too harsh with Ancora but I feel like with Ancora, there was already enough material to analyze if there was a vision. He came with a color, then a campaign with Daria. Then the collection. His second campaign, for the runway collection was already different from the first campaign with Daria. Then the choice of Kendall and Bad Bunny. They already have store design ready for the launch of his first RTW collection…So they were elements or at least a base.
We saw the cracks with the lack of consistency, the lackluster products, the prefall, the FW menswear which wzs the same show as the SS and then the FW womenswear which had a different vibe.

Now, with Sarah, we have nothing! 1 show, custom looks for the Redcarpet. Come on guys!

 

[PDFSD]

Williams is terrible i agree but that was from the start till his last show.

Ancora was terrible basic from the beginning till the end.

Sarah is showing she is continuing on the same path her Mcqueen was and leaning on same tricks that look tired already & that's the concern.

I don't understand why skeptical hypothesis cannot be part of the conversation just as being hopeful is part of the many yet to be presented collections of newly appointed creative directors.

both are based on limited information regardless of a negative or positive outlook.

I adapt a new twist on instead of innocent till proven guilty, Its praise till proven worthy of it!!!! on these new CD appointments

Or only await when its bad or x CD is fired for everyone to have a take on it here or on social media.

but what's the point of that it limiting the discourse and only being reactive to the status quo.

once again i find the pro and contra even in hypothesis form the most interesting as it's yet to unfold

part of fashion and art and culture is to anticipate ...even algorithms and AI is build on this concept of anticipation of future possibilities.

 

[Cocteau Stone]

The jacket reminds of Alla Kostromichova’s look in Spring 2010. All over enamel paillette jacket with incorporated raglan cocoon sleeve. It’s not horrible, it’s very her. Burton had a huge say in that 2010 collection so fitting that she’s carried over some of those sensibilities as part of her ethos.

Frankly, I’m not going to use MET gala looks as a judgement of her design capacity at Givenchy. It’s the MET gala, the tackiest event in fashion. Honestly.

 

[Mody]

I don’t think Sarah has the capability to bring her ateliers with her to Givenchy. Hence the tailoring and all look subpar comparing to her McQueen offerings. Givenchy has been lacking in this department for a long time, and I don’t think whatever Williams has helped it.

 

[Frederic01]

We can’t again criticize the state of the industry if every creative director is crucified in such a short time.

Exactly @Lola701 ! Thank you for saying this! : )

People are just too quick to tear someone apart these days in the field of fashion. And literally after one show and one major red carpet look! It's madness. Fashion has the be one of the only creative industries wherein talent is given such a short amount of time to "succeed" and to "impress". Artists, film directors, costume designers, etc etc, are given years of time to be able to hone their craft. But fashion designers? After one season and it is game over?

We need to allow these creatives time to breathe and to develop. Otherwise we are really entering dangerous territory in terms of creativity...

 

[tatouejeremie]

Sarah Burton was hired for her experience, and she’s had ample time to prepare - she should’ve come out of the gate strong. Some say she’s genuinely talented, though according to what I've been told by people who’ve worked with her, that’s debatable.

I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, especially when it’s new talent stepping into a creative director role. But let’s call a spade a spade: her McQueen never evolved - she had been doing the same collection over and over. Her Givenchy debut had major “how do you do, fellow kids” energy - clearly trying to look cool and current, but it just didn’t land.

And with her track record, I don’t have much hope that she’ll evolve from here. Of course, I’m always open to being surprised.

 

[Norden]

I don’t doubt her abilities as a designer at all. What I do think is an issue with her is branding, pr and marketing, I expected lvmh to step in here and give it their magic. But what we got so far is quite mediocre. It’s quite clear to me she doesn’t have a strong contemporary vision in that department. I hope she has the time and ambition to refine her collections a bit more, so that it can overshadow a bad pr pick (I mean dressing this woman from wicked is so lame)

 

[Cocteau Stone]

Exactly @Lola701 ! Thank you for saying this! : )

People are just too quick to tear someone apart these days in the field of fashion. And literally after one show and one major red carpet look! It's madness. Fashion has the be one of the only creative industries wherein talent is given such a short amount of time to "succeed" and to "impress". Artists, film directors, costume designers, etc etc, are given years of time to be able to hone their craft. But fashion designers? After one season and it is game over?

We need to allow these creatives time to breathe and to develop. Otherwise we are really entering dangerous territory in terms of creativity...

I think it’s also important to mention that although it’s still under Kering, the dynamic at Givenchy is most definitely different to McQueen. Of course she could have brought people over, but the atelier operates differently. The petit mains are most likely structured different so understanding the way they operate takes some added time.

I think she’s more than capable. The identity of Givenchy is just very different to McQueen. Tisci took a good while to get into the swing of things. McQueen himself didn’t fully hit his stride. MacDonald was… MacDonald. And as well, jersey columns are a cop out but everyone and everything is doing those. The suits, and even Burton herself, would know that. More than ever fashion is a business. Branding isn’t overnight, no matter how hard they push it as well. I don’t love what she’s done but at large it makes sense.

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

It’s not groundbreaking but it’s not terrible.

A more well thought out bottom in line with the theme would have suited the theme more and also added a bit of modernity but I don’t often associate modernity to Sarah Burton, no tea no shade.

I much agree with this, concerning C. Erivo's dress.

Gorgeous construction of the top, marvelous.

Then you have the embroidery wich covers it. It is stitched without real order, drowning the beautiful architecture instead of enhancing it, like for the sake of having hours of handmade work on it.
An understandable mistake.

Then you have the skirt, wich is an insane amount of tulle with a lazy shape, not really matching the upper part, and which feels almost its opposite, in many senses.
Solid mistake.

So in a way, this look sums up my first impression of her debut.
A couple of sublime things (Eva Herzigova!), with debatable decisions (the logos), with downright débutante missteps (the yellow mountain of ugliness that closed the show).

Still seeing where her Givenchy goes.

 

[tourbillions]

More than talent and capabilities i think people are fast to judge designers now based on the virality of the first collection. If its a big hit in social media no matter how mediocre the construction/techniques are some would say that they had a really good debut. If the views are mid and doesnt make viral waves, then people are fast to say that its a "flop". That i think is the current climate as to why its even faster now to judge designers. In return, we are surprised that the quality of the clothes are very much suffered. Since every season they are only chasing for that viral moment regardless how it came about construction-wise. Its not about techniques anymore.


Everyone is chasing that viral collection from their first collection instead of something more organic and something that comes to life as years progress. I'm not sure but i felt in the past it was totally ok for designers to have a miss collections and come back next season with a collection that would get rave reviews. Now everything is moving so fast that if you have one miss, you will always be seen based on that one miss.

 

[Lola701]

Sarah Burton was hired for her experience, and she’s had ample time to prepare - she should’ve come out of the gate strong.

She had time to prepare, yes but as I said, for me the issue is not so much about me or people on TFS individually appreciating her work or not.
Clearly, some people thinks she came strong and some think the opposite.

My thing is that some people are already trying to downplay her era when we barely had food to eat from that era!

No campaigns, no store display, nothing. A show and 5 Redcarpet looks. This is a major brand so things will develop but you can’t base a fair opinion around a tenure through 1 show and 5 Redcarpet looks.

Fashion is about a coherent vision after all.

Haider is in the same position. He has 1 successful show, a few Redcarpet looks. He gave us some visuals already but he used different photographers, so it’s not very clear to have a clear opinion on what Tom Ford may look in the next year but so far, the moves are clever and more elevated than what we saw during the Peter Hawkings.

It’s clear that under Haider, the brand won’t have to pay for Iris Law to attend the show…
He has brought back an air of exclusivity already but the website hasn’t changed, his clothes haven’t hit the stores yet so his CD is not tangible yet.

 

[PDFSD]

We need to allow these creatives time to breathe and to develop. Otherwise we are really entering dangerous territory in terms of creativity...

They have all the space to breathe and develop ...... a few discussions on TFS or even on ig or tik tok wont shift the success if they sell well etc look at VV at Chanel or MGC Dior.

The dangerous territory in terms of creativity we are are entering is based on lack of depth in CD´s work output and acceptance of mediocrity and rise of AI and everyone can do it approach and accepting everyone with kid gloves.

Again the critique is on integrity of design and for that its an open playground (sure we joke on other parts banter is just side conversations)

we need to let people express themselves on and off line , and engage or disengage when a topic does not suit or inspires us to discuss instead of redirecting on how to express themselves because we don't like to read xyz online.

 

[tourbillions]

is she gonna have a solo menswear collection? i cant wait

 

[QuantumCouture]

Cynthia in Givenchy Haute Couture by Sarah Burton at the Met Gala.


ERIVO HQ

OK, let's dissect a bit this look from a couture perspective.

We have a hyper-cinched wasp waist anchored by a broad, high, almost Tudor collar. It seems to reference a Dior Bar jacket, but the collar swells into opera territory. The beadwork motifs are so dense that they stiffen the cloth. The sleeves feel directionless and add unnecessary bulk. However, the jacket does show classic corseterie.The skirt uses micro-bloomer shorts in front, funereal train in the back. The break at the hip is so abrupt it feels unfinished. The boots - dominatrix meets Fabergé.

The intention was probably to project opulence, dark romance, female armor, etc. But she kept adding more and more, resulting in an exhausting heap of unnecessary details.

 

[tourbillions]

but the collar swells into opera territory

i think its a corseted exagerated inverted suit just like she did in her rtw collection. But as mentioned the beadwork did not help much to identify it as that.

 

[hamburgers]

Her Givenchy debut had major “how do you do, fellow kids” energy - clearly trying to look cool and current, but it just didn’t land.

That's her entire solo career she's just not edgy or cool, but they think the market demands it so we get her cringey trying to be hip creative direction instead of the romantic aesthetic she's much more fluent with. I thought she was hitting at something when she'd do more romantic versions of old Mugler, McQueen, and Alaia but then that went away in favor of the hokey body chains, doc martens, Mayfair girlboss department store look. She's got more talent than taste which is a curse I usually ascribe to Italians.

Idk if it's fair to judge her couture output based on a celebrity who has a very screechy sense of fashion especially the way celebrity stylists love to play designer now. The jacket could be fine on the runway with a structured pencil skirt or pant and better shoes. The embellishment is kinda worrying me though it's bordering D&G taste level just like how she aimed at Alaia on some of her debut Givenchy looks but landed closer to D&G. Her McQueen men's was basically British D&G so maybe that side of her has always just been lurking in the background.

 

[fashionmarketeditor]

Does anyone know who the new Givenchy men’s design director is ever since Joshua Bullen left for Kenzo?

 

[Olaffo]

Does anyone know who the new Givenchy men’s design director is ever since Joshua Bullen left for Kenzo?

Robert Huth is current head of MRTW at Givenchy.