Editorial

The Latest in Luxury From Givenchy

The latest in luxury from Givenchy - now available at END.

Having settled into her role as creative director for Givenchy (taking the reigns from Ricardo Tisci after 12 years), Clare Waight Keller continues to make her mark at the Parisian label.

Stepping away from the maison’s signature palette of stars and stripes, Waight Keller opts to reinvigorate Givenchy’s classic 4Gs logo, applying this longstanding and storied brand insignia across a range of menswear staples designed to suit the luxury lifestyle.

Quoted in Vogue, Waight Keller signposted her plans to develop the Givenchy menswear offering to appeal to a broader base and with the recent announcement that she plans to return to male-only shows for AW19, it’s clear that menswear has emerged as an area of strategic and creative importance for the label.

With streetwear fever having reached saturation over the past few seasons, and the ubiquity of the tracksuit calling for a realignment of menswear style codes from the industry elite, Givenchy delivers an SS19 collection which masterfully applies a streetwear sensibility to a range of tailored silhouettes.

Evidenced by the combination of sports references and casual tailoring in this collection, Givenchy has switched gears to deliver output which catches the attention of generation-streetwear with a fresh perspective. All over prints and graphic iconography are combined with a fresh interpretation of sartorialism introduced during the reign of her predecessor to create a fresh identity for the Givenchy man in 2019 and beyond.

Capitalising on her outsider status, Waight Keller brings a British grit to the Parisian label – delivering a masterful synthesis of classicism and streetwear to suit the times we live in.

This incorporation of streetwear elements in the output of nearly every iconic French house is testimony to just how narrow the gap between high fashion and streetwear has become in the age of Yeezy and Off-White, and in light of this new direction, who better to lead the charge than Waight Keller whose youth was spent on the streets of Birmingham; experiencing first hand the culture and aesthetics which inform streetwear’s point of view.

While Waight Keller’s time at Givenchy is just beginning, a natural symbiosis of the DNA of the house and Waight Keller’s personal design perspective has already shone through. In the age of the multi-hyphenate – and at a time where our appetite for newness in fashion has never been more insatiable – Waight Keller’s background as a stylist has proved invaluable, providing the essential insight needed to know not only how to design, but how to combine pieces to communicate a vision.

...and ultimately sell clothes that people want to wear.

The latest in luxury from Givenchy is now available at END.

writerDavid Dover
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