The Givenchy Legacy Continues...

Clare Waight Keller's couture collection for Givenchy fascinated on multiple levels.  

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.

Hubert de Givenchy

Hubert de Givenchy, founder of the house of Givenchy, has Died at 91 at his home.

The aristocratic French designer dressed his friend and muse Audrey Hepburn in films such as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Funny Face." 

The French fashion house confirmed the news on social media on Monday morning, remembering the 
late designer as a "major personality of the world of French Haute Couture and a gentleman who symbolized Parisian chic elegance."

With his perfect manners and old-school discipline, Givenchy had a distinguished presence that colored the fashion industry for over fifty years.  A consummate collector with an impeccable eye for objects as well as the interior decoration of houses, he leaves behind a fashion house that defined the very notions of refinement and elegance.

Givenchy championed the concept of separates with his first couture collection in 1952 at age 25, and two years later became the first designer to launch a high-end ready-to-wear line.  Early in his career, he garnered attention stateside for his artist-muse relationship with Audrey Hepburn, with whom he also developed a close personal relationship, forging a bond between Hollywood and haute couture that still thrives today. 

In addition to Hepburn, Givenchy also dressed screen darlings of the '50s and '60s, including Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, Greta Garbo and Grace Kelly, as well as Jackie Kennedy. During that time, his name was synonymous with ladylike luxury. He made the simple crisp white shirt chic and was a master of the little black dress.

Givenchy is survived by his partner, Philippe Venet, his nieces and nephews, and their children.  His family plans a private funeral and requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to UNICEP in his name.  

Louis Vuitton’s ‘Volez, Voguez, Voyagez’ Exhibition Lands in New York

When Louis Vuitton launched its “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez” exhibition in 2015 at the Grand Palais in Paris, the company always intended for the retrospective to travel. In the time since, the exhibition detailing the history of the French trunk maker has made stops in Tokyo and Seoul.

Yet, according to chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton, Michael Burke, it was always destined for the former American Stock Exchange building in lower Manhattan, where it has set up shop from now through Jan. 7.

The New York version remains free to the public, and got the high-tech, social media treatment. Visitors are encouraged to download the Volez, Voguez, Voyagez app, which allows them to virtually tag a subway wall at the exhibition’s entrance, view other messages, and have their note saved by Vuitton.

As with the others, the exhibition opens with the wood room, showing the earliest trunks, including the first trunk that “starts to look like a Vuitton,” an 1886 striped trunk, and the start of monogramming at the house, which began in 1896 as a way to memorialize the death of Louis Vuitton’s father, in 1893.  The “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez” venture is expected to draw close to 400,000 or 500,000 visitors throughout the exhibition’s run in New York. They exit through a gift shop stocking perfumes, travel guides, notebooks and the like.

Ralph Lauren Iconic Style

The name of American clothing designer Ralph Lauren has become associated with class and taste.  In addition to clothing, he designs home decorating products such as furniture, bedding, drapes, towels, rugs, china, and silverware.

The youngest of four children, Ralph Lifshitz was born in the Bronx, New York, on October 14, 1939.  His father was a house painter.  Ralph became interested in clothes when he was in seventh grade.  He changed his name to Lauren in the mid-1950s.  After graduating high school he worked as a salesman and began studying business at night.  He quit school after a few months, spent time in the army, and then looked for a job in fashion.

Lauren started his own company and launched a line of men’s clothing, Polo, offering styles that were a mix of English and American styles.  Lauren’s menswear was a success; and in 1971 he introduced his women’s line.  As the years went by he continued to branch out into children’s clothes, colognes, footwear, home products, and other merchandise while building an American Fashion Empire. 

The Art of Styling

Wear... Remix... Repeat...

It's how the pros stylishly dress from down to dark all month long.  It is about knowing how to mix brands and make it work with your own style.  For a morning of meetings, opt for the classic power duo of stripes and denim.  A bright, pleated skirt provides a jolt of feminine edge for tackling lunch appointments.  Dinner party dressing made easy with a shoulder baring top and flittering choker.  Grab a mini bag, slip on a ruffled skirt, a playful ensemble for drinks and to end the day.

Here are few examples from the it list:

Fall/Winter 2016 Coats

Winter is coming!  Here are some of my picks of coats for staying stylish during the cold season...

Tory Burch - Cheval Peacoat

3.1 Phillip Lim - Peacoat w/Lace Bodice

Max Mara - Mauela Coat

Stella McCartney

Moncler -Nesea

Burberry

A.P.C. - Abysse Coat

Soia & Kyo - Chanelle Coat

Uniqlo - Wool

Valentino - Straight Coat

Goen J Ruffled

Valentino - Long Cape

Zara - Faux Fur

Karl Lagerfeld

Mango - Faux Fur

Maison Lesage Atelier

House of Lesage has been creating opulent embroidery requiring countless hours of work and exceptional skills for Haute Couture, Ready-to-Wear and accessories since its creation in 1924.  The company founded an embroidery school in 1992 that welcomes those who are passionate about embroidery from all over the world.

Founded by Albert and Marie-Louise Lesage, who had taken over an embroidery workshop that supplied the first great names in couture, the maison Lesage quickly made a name for itself with its technical innovations and avant-garde motifs of shells, circus performers and zodiac signs.  After the war, Francois Lesage, the son of Albert and Marie-Louise, took over control of the house quickly won the trust of new clients like Pierre Balmain, Cristobal Balenziaga, Christina Dior, Hubert de Givenchy, Christian Lacroix and Yves Saint Laurent.  

In 1998, driven by a desire to diversify the establishment’s activities, François Lesage created a textile workshop. He suggested some tweeds for his Haute Couture and Ready-to-wear collections for the great names in fashion. They are a sophisticated assembly of the most diverse types of threads and materials, and involve extraordinary know-how.

Though Lesage was bought by Chanel in 2002, the atelier has retained its independence, continuing to work for all the top couture houses, and is responsible for many of beadings and embroideries that grace the famous Parisian couture collections.  With 60,000 samples accumulated over its long history, the Lesage archives represent the biggest collection of couture embroidery in the world, with the atelier adding to this rich heritage every year with around a hundred of new embroideries designs.

His son Jean-François created his own workshop producing embroidery for interiors in Chennai, India, where he is established since 1993. He often works with the shoemaker Christian Louboutin and regularly works with the Maison Lesage in Paris.

"We are playing our part in the kingdom of the imagination. Embroidery can be a woman's dream become reality.” François Lesage.