GIVENCHY SPRING-SUMMER 2024 COLLECTION

Drawing on his own generational experience, Artistic Director Matthew M. Williams observes in the spirit of the times a re-contextualisation of the archetypes of smartness: a reset perception of the well-tailored silhouette devoid of the preordained virtues of the past.

For the Spring-Summer 2024 Women’s Collection, Givenchy reflects on a collective comprehension of elegance as shaped by the genetics of its own heritage and a present-day desire for simplicity. Through his instinctive approach to the Maison, Artistic Director Matthew M. Williams composes through technical notes a contemporary grammar of elegance mirrored in the ease of the real wardrobe mentality of the women who surround him.

Silhouettes suspend the rigid and the relaxed. Architectonic hourglass tailoring in gentleman’s wools is sculpted with half-moon curves along necklines and hemlines. Jackets and dresses with plunging or winged open backs evoke the language of haute couture. Conversely, softly structured double-breasted blazers cut an enveloping frame echoed in contemporary takes on opera coats constructed in delicate duchesse satin. The skirt suit is re-invigorated with pedestaling ankle-length skirts and flight jackets.

An undying symbol of elegance, the flower is entrenched within the archives of Hubert de Givenchy whose passion for gardens Matthew Williams shares as a source of recreation and inspiration. Florals inform the collection’s palette and materialise throughout, in embroideries and hand-painted motifs, in prints, and sculpted metal jewellery. Lace, a trope of elegance central to the Maison, is re- activated in the volants of dresses. Jewels transform into clothing in latticed pearl, glass and crystal grid dresses and skirts.

Appropriating evening codes for day, flou re-energises Givenchy’s emblematic draping in second-skin filtrage dresses sheathed, ruched and knotted within translucent overlays. A series of dresses are spliced from different fabrics – chiffon, taffeta, organza – adorned with the same floral print. Mud silk, a Ming Dynasty dying technique in which silk is submersed in river mud, conveys an oscillating leathery effect in graceful dresses, some embraced in gestural shrugs across the bust. The material enters into an exchange with leather tailoring with hardware detailing adapted from the Voyou bag.

Formalwear interprets the season’s sculptural lines and flower motifs in rosette cocktail dresses and taffeta or satin gowns swirled into  rose formations. Diaphanous chiffon dresses epitomise the collection’s draping. Crystal chokers, hoop earrings, ear cuffs and rings are ornamented with single pearl pendants, mirrored in classic pearl necklaces. Another choker fuses crystal encrustation with Cuban chains, while rings are festooned with metal roses. Hair-comb headbands transform into Alice bands in gold or silver finishings.

The filtrage employed in dresses is evoked in pointed stilettos encased by mesh overlay, which stretches into a boot silhouette with an ankle strap. They feature in leather and crystal with black or pastel mesh. Wrapped around a pointed mule, the collection materials of mud silk, translucent fabric and leather creating a flower-like embellishment. A draped, twisted peep-toe mule riffs on the motif of ruching, while the signature Shark Lock boot is reinterpreted in an open-toe stiletto version in stretch leather. As a nod to classic elegance, the minimal d’Orsay pointed pump enhances the collection’s sleek silhouette.

The Voyou line is re-invigorated with sliding chain straps that fade in dimension, and a new trapezoid flap bag framed by chunky etched hardware buckles. The shape is echoed in a slimmer clutch in embossed crocodile or duchesse ruched into a rosette, featuring a strap garlanded with a thin ‘bra chain’. A large lightweight tote bag with a strap closure and a dressy buckled top-hand bag are crafted in calfskin and canvas. New hardware motifs are inspired by the ornate interiors of Hubert de Givenchy’s homes. A new 4G buckle graces dresses and sunglasses, as well as an abstracted bird embellishment which architecturally articulates a soft lambskin clutch and a shoulder bag.

Men’s Ready-to-wear Collection

Elegance as an expression of individuality. Sartorialism as a gesture of nonconformity. A free-spirited sophistication. For the Spring- Summer 2024 Men’s Collection, Givenchy examines the relationship between a new culture of masculine dressing and the codes of the classic gentleman’s wardrobe.

The premise prompts a study of our formative discovery of elegance embodied by the school uniform. A dual symbol of democracy and constraint, it is the canvas for teenage-driven customisation: an archetype instinctively re-appropriated according to functionality and personality. Crested knits, sweatshirts and polos shrunken, scoop-necked or cropped at the hip play with ideas of outgrown proportions and self-adaptation, framed by formidable overcoats. Outlining a new formality, schoolboy suits are worn under tech jackets created with heightened savoir-faire, from archival floral embroideries to hand-encrusted crystals and a yellow and black construction crafted entirely in super-light calfskin.

The silhouette evolves into an exploration of essential wardrobe items elevated in luxury techniques and fabrications. Adorned with gems or hardware, longline t-shirts and jersey pieces riff on oscillating proportions in wide-leg cargo trousers and super-sized chinos cinched in by way of overlaying hooks. Tropes of the men’s wardrobe are hand-made in double-face cotton, from the trench coat to the mac and the blouson. Cut in slight dimensions, hand-constructed double-face nylon outerwear, hoodies and tops carrying the marque Givenchy Double Face Nylon add a contracting line to silhouettes. Labelled Givenchy Garment Dyed, crinkled tracksuits, military smocks and field jackets have undergone state-of-the-art fabric treatments. Denim manifests in a new take on the regular-fit jean and in hacked-off shorts.

Tuxedos in lurex or brushed wool reflect an idea of realistic proportion, neither oversized nor sculpted, and appear slightly elongated in length and shortened at the sleeve as a nod to the formative notion of sophistication. They herald the pinnacle of customised elegance: a series of hand-made suits expressed in double-breasted silk-wool blazers with magnet closures, sculpted square shoulders achieved through hand-carved pads, and eliminated back seams. The details are applied to an intricately tailored haute couture military jacket in diagonal wool imitating the texture of the authentic piece that inspired it. The generational take on high dressmaking evolves in jumpsuits – a painstaking tailoring exercise – echoed in waistcoats and trousers that create a similar silhouette.

Worn around the waist, technical bags in suede, nylon and webbing reinforce a real and functional approach to elegance. Nodding at the schoolboy motif, backpacks in mixed tech materials and scuffed suedes take macro or micro form and are styled to accentuate the play on proportions central to the collection. The scuffed suedes are mirrored in the triangular Voyou, which emerges in a cross-body bag with silver and gold hardware, and in magnified-toe derbies and boots which also feature in leathers, alongside a flat loafer. A hybrid proposal for a new wardrobe mentality, a lightweight sneaker in nylon and corduroy transforms the language of hiking shoes  into an elegant shape and fuses the constructions of sneakers and dress shoes through the Maison’s savoir-faire.

Jewellery pays homage to Hubert de Givenchy in adaptations of orchids, one of the founder’s favourite flowers. Emphasising the artisanal core of the collection, the orchids are hand-forged in gradient enamel earrings, ear cuffs and necklaces. Sunglasses reinterpret classic shapes in minimal oval frames in matte metals.