Givenchy Reimagines Its Founder's Personal Wardrobe for FW24
The French fashion house studied the “new gentleman” through the lens of Hubert de Givenchy’s own style.
“Gentlemanliness is an expression of character,” read the notes for Givenchy’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection, designed by the French fashion house’s staff in the wake of Matthew M. Williams’ departure from the brand. The communal line offered a study on the “new gentleman,” through the lens of the House’s founder, Hubert de Givenchy, whose wardrobe can be divided into two dichotomous characters: public and personal.
On the runway, Hubert’s blouse blanche, which he famously wore in his studio, was reimagined as a workwear top, in both sleeved and sleeveless iterations. The famed designer’s formal uniform came to life in the form of suits and coats cut with armholes under their sleeves, referencing his love for capes. Many of them appeared in sapphire, a tone that Mr. Givenchy famously used as a substitute for black.
The founder’s personal closet informed the line’s graphics and embellishments. Here, shearling was left untrimmed on outerwear, and it became the decorative finish on trousers. Twisted synthetic hair decorations covered jump jackets, while a referential cat motif landed atop garments in hair print and on bags with secret resin or glittering cat eye elements. An archival scarf was remastered in a plaited hair print, and it was styled nonchalantly, in signature Hubert de Givenchy fashion. His coveted logo belt, too, was revived with a “2G” emblem on its buckle.
Zooming in, Givenchy declared the “new gentleman’s” shoes to be loafers, mules and derbies in upscale materials and with velvet finishes. Elsewhere, Western boots merged with workwear styles to form a bold-toe silhouette with knotted leather cord detailing. Bags rounded out the collection: the Voyou was reimagined in buffalo leather, cowhide and shearling, while the Pandora transformed with multiple pockets in similar finishes.
See Givenchy’s Fall/Winter 2024 menswear collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to Hypebeast for more Paris Fashion Week coverage.
