After the death of Hubert de Givenchy in March at the age of 91, Waight Keller thought it appropriate to make her fall 2018 collection an homage to the founder. It wasn't her first such statement. In what may be the most famous dress she will ever design, Meghan Markle's wedding dress, the designer drew inspiration from a 1964 dress photographed in Vogue on Givenchy's lifelong muse, Audrey Hepburn.
At the core, the play of feminine and masculine the designer has identified from her deep dive into the Givenchy archives and which, despite her take on a more ethereal bohemian romance at Chloe, she has always loved. The collection started with a strong shoulder that immediately took the fragility out of even the most fluid dresses. She worked with bold combinations for the look of a modern day warrior princess.
Of the house founder, Waight Keller said, "He believed in elegance. He believed in chic." She believes in the beauty of inner power, and wearing it on the outside. The most inspiring aspect of her tenure so far has been her kid-in-a-candy-store glee at the atelier she has access to. She seconded that emotion when two dozen artisans trooped out onstage at show's end. The best is surely yet to come.
