After 12 years of having the same creative director, Riccardo Tisci, Givenchy finally found itself a new person to lead the brand. Her name is Clare Waight Keller and she is the second woman designer to be at the head of an LVMH couture house. Maria Grazia Chiuri was the first one and is working for Dior. Riccardo Tisci, who resigned in January had worked for Givenchy after previously working for Lee Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.
Keller’s background is more than impressive. She first graduated from the Royal College of Art in London and then decided to move to New York. There she worked for Calvin Klein and then for the menswear department at Ralph Lauren. In 2005, she started working for Gucci until she was asked to be creative directore for Pringle of Scotland.
Givenchy chose to inform people of the new creative director by posting a picture of Clare Waight Keller on Instagram as they currently have 7.7 million followers. Keller stated once the pic had been posted: “Hubert de Givenchy’s confident style has always been an inspiration and I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this legendary house’s history. I look forward to working with the teams and writing a new chapter in this beautiful story.” Philippe Fortunato, CEO of Givenchy, is convinced that Keller is the missing link to help the brand reach its full potential.
While Tisci was mainly embraced by the hip-hop culture through collaboration with Kanye West, Kim Kardashian and even Madonna, Keller is better known for being calm and shows a big interest in the arts. She designs wearable and desirable garments. On top of that, she has a strong suit for designing accessories such as shoes and bags. That is something that Givenchy is stongly welcoming as they have not produced a hit-bag in a long time.
The Givenchy house was founded in 1952 by Hubert Givenchy. Since the very beginning, celebreties such as Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy wore the haute couture brand for its linearly elegant collections. We think that Keller will be drawn back to the houses heritage and produce shows that will remind us of the past. Her first collection will be presented at Paris Fashion week for the spring/summer 18 show.
