Celebration of Hubert de Givenchy & Audrey.....

Iconic Fashion Moments to Celebrate Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy...

It was the spring of 1953 and the then-unknown Audrey Hepburn, whose Oscar-winning role as the runaway princess in Roman Holiday would come to theaters later that year, was already at work on her next project, Sabrina. Tasked with procuring an on-screen wardrobe that evoked the impossibly chic couture confections coming out of Paris, the knowing Hepburn went straight to the source.

Apparently the top choice, Mr. Cristóbal Balenciaga, was deemed too important to bother so close to the release of his next collection, so the actress rung up the atelier of Hubert de Givenchy for an appointment. The story could have ended there; he too was preparing his next collection and had also expected another Hepburn to show up at his door that day (a certain Miss Katharine). Thankfully, she charmed the designer with her Bambi eyes and elegant figure à la garçon. Soon after, she would work her magic on cinemagoers as she sashayed on-screen as Sabrina (post-makeover) in Mr. Givenchy’s designs.

 The film would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design (picked up by the film’s technical costume designer Edith Head, but that’s a story for another time).

Together, Hepburn and Givenchy would architect some of history’s most memorable movie and fashion moments (Funny Face, Love in the Afternoon, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, How to Steal a Million, et cetera) and in doing so, they introduced the world to a new woman for the postwar era. Enamored, ladies followed Hepburn’s lead, penciling in their eyebrows with points and cinching their middles to imitate the former ballerina’s wasp waist. Their collaboration was not limited to film either, as Hepburn also looked to Givenchy in her personal life. In 1969, she wed her second husband Andrea Dotti in a pink jersey mini of his design, and she was faithful to L’Interdit, a botanical fragrance Givenchy created especially for her. We owe much to Givenchy for creating a sartorial language everyone was eager to learn and here, we celebrate the late designer’s work as seen on his most famous patron.