For the Givenchy Haute Couture Autumn-Winter 2018-2019 collection, Artistic Director Clare Waight Keller paid homage to Monsieur Hubert de Givenchy, not only for the timelessness of his creations, but as a tribute to the innate elegance of the man himself and the grace with which he lived.

With refinement and restraint, the Autumn-Winter 2018-2019 Givenchy Haute Couture collection mirrors the personality of the house’s founder. Sleek, graphic and slightly futuristic shapes echo those of Monsieur de Givenchy in the Sixties and Seventies, renewing the purist’s vision of effortlessness. Men’s tailoring techniques inform capes and coats, contrasting with the poise of flou in draped silk cady or georgette and crystalline shades of aquamarine, coral, verdigris, or deeper, subterranean shades of blue, purple and faux black. Mysterious, monolithic embroideries recall cave formations and slices of minerals, infusing silhouettes with frost, shine and the modern attitude that is Clare Waight Keller’s signature.

For women, bijoux de corps crystal and metallic elements enhance duality, while supple, embroidered leather, velvet and the sheen of goose, ostrich and coq feathers are worked with the ease of faux fur, infusing looks with a mystical sensuality. In homage to his beloved muse, M. de Givenchy’s iconic little black dress nods to timeless glamour with an of-the-moment twist.

Interspersed throughout the collection, men’s looks feature chiselled shoulders, an icy elegance and silhouettes inspired by the looks that M. de Givenchy favoured for himself, including a classic double-breasted jacket, a red cape, polished slim-cut suits and the turtleneck. To this lexicon, Clare Waight Keller brings her own vision of effortless elegance in a modern evening tail coat, and sharp coats with cascades of mineral or agate-inspired embroideries.

As a salute to the founding couturier’s agile wit, each look in the Givenchy Haute Couture Fall-Winter 2018-2019 collection is named with an adjective M. de Givenchy once used to refer to his runway looks and, by extension, his loyal clients, women who won his admiration for their audacity, frivolity and smarts.