The Luxury Givenchy FW 18/19 collection was presented at Judicial Palace in Paris and opened up by a series of fur models. What could have caused a great uproar during the first few minutes later transpired to be a humane and triumphant step. In fact for its autumn collection, Givenchy has chosen luxurious imitations which only look like real fur. This achievement will undoubtedly succeed both with animal welfare activists and perhaps even the clients.
After this wave of fur models with tied belts, simpler pieces characteristic of the unmistakeable feminine style appeared on the catwalk. Woollen overcoats and costumes, luxurious tops, relaxed-cut trousers, day and evening dresses with minimalist elements and fine prints or, contrariwise, bold structures and detailing.
As regards the question of materials, Clare Waight Keller, except of wool also reached for cotton, leather, chiffon, sequins, lace or feathers. The Givenchy fashion house, similarly to Giorgio Armani, tried to incorporate the element of a bow into the collection; it is currently very much in. But the Givenchy take on it is quite unfortunate. It looks cute when there is a mini bow, such as the one tastefully placed on the black-and-white dress which also features feathers, but a maxi bow knot positioned on the chest of a black chiffon gown is an absolutely repulsive example of distortion of the female form!
The entire fashion show exuded mystical atmosphere from its very beginning. For its show Givenchy chose an atmosphere of mysterious dimness accentuated by the selection of the accompanying music. Moreover, the premises of the palace played with shadows and so the silhouettes of the models kept vanishing and reappearing. To sum it up, a fashion show in real terms of the word!
How else would you explain the megalomaniac endeavour with artificial fur? Certainly, as a friendly gesture it is nice, but in my opinion it will have a zero impact. When we take a closer look at it, Givenchy is a brand, which only the very rich are able to afford. And truthfully, have you ever seen any heiress, for example of coal mines, to stroll proudly in an artificial fur coat? Hardly. Only a fool would pay hundreds of thousands for something that is actually artificial and a replica on top of that. From this perspective, I regard the collection as being hypocritical, because this is all about a momentary "improvement" of the brand´s image.
As for the rest, I would not choose very much. But if I had to, I would certainly pick the black-and-white tweed jacket with a black belt - a stylish lady-like look for the city. And I would definitely not forget the metallic evening dress that will turn any woman into a snake goddess of Heraklion at least.
Finally, I would just like to mention that I hope not to see similar ideas from other brands. Because to combine artificial fur with leather shoes, belts and handbags is after all pretty crazy!