FROM CITY TO SAND, GIVENCHY DRAWS INSPIRATION FROM HUBERT DE GIVENCHY’S SEASIDE ESTATE, LE CLOS FIORENTINA, FOR ITS LATEST COLLECTION.
French luxury fashion house Givenchy has once again proven its expertise in crafting exquisite garments and accessories, this time with its latest capsule collection, “Givenchy Plage“. This range of ready-to-wear pieces and accessories is specifically designed to take fashion enthusiasts from the city to the sand with ease, drawing inspiration from the brand’s archives, particularly from the beachwear line launched by the founder of the House, Hubert de Givenchy, back in the 1950s.
Set to debut for Pre-Fall 2023, “Givenchy Plage” takes its cues from the refined lifestyle of the founder, who owned a seaside estate in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, Le Clos Fiorentina. The soft color palette of the property and the elegance of its surroundings inform the collection’s seasonal ready-to-wear styles and essential accessories.
Matthew M. Williams, the brand’s creative director, cites the unique lighting of the South of France as a significant source of inspiration for the collection. He notes that Monsieur de Givenchy loved Le Clos Fiorentina for its protected, natural beauty and relaxed elegance, which provided a welcome break from his busy life in Paris. Williams explains, “For Givenchy Plage, I wanted to explore that lifestyle through light and color, especially the pearly pink façades that are so typical of that region.”
“Givenchy Plage” boasts a refreshing casual style with simple elegance, featuring a range of desirable items for both men and women that are easy to mix and match or integrate into one’s wardrobe. From striped cotton shirts and shorts to short dresses, tops, sarongs, hooded caftans, and terrycloth shorts with embossed logos, linen tops and macramé skirts, knitted dresses, sun-dyed denim shirts, and of course, swimwear, the collection is a feast for the eyes.
While delving into the archives of the LVMH Parisian luxury house, Williams stumbled upon images of the founder’s first swimming costumes, which were unveiled during a show in New York in 1952. The swimwear proved to be a hit in America, and Hubert de Givenchy continued to present beachwear designs over the following decades. It is this heritage that the House aims to revive with the Givenchy Plage collection.
The collection’s color palette is a delightful fusion of past and present, with Givenchy’s signature black and white complemented by pale pink, sky blue, lilac, and light grey, as well as washed denim and sailor stripes. The line also includes a series of one-piece swimsuits and bikinis, bags such as woven straw baskets, bobs, and caps, rubber flip-flops, sandals, and some jewelry. Prices range from 275 euros for a pair of pool sandals to 1,390 euros for a terrycloth dress with embossed jacquard.
One noteworthy feature of the Givenchy Plage collection is the House’s particular attention to the traceability of its clothes, labeling certain swimwear models with QR codes that inform customers about the garment’s care instructions as well as the supply chain in terms of materials and manufacturing.
The “Givenchy Plage” collection is a triumph, allowing the past and present to converge seamlessly. House staples such as bold cut-outs, beach club attire, quintessential sailor stripes, and pearls take center stage. Linen is woven into bikinis and cover-ups in black and beige, and sportswear-leaning carryalls in raffia, 4G sneakers, and bob hats fulfill wardrobe requirements. For the beach club, Givenchy offers white pajama separates, resort-ready tops, and blue T-shirts and shorts composed of regenerative cotton poplin and linen. Finally, new iterations of the House’s 4G Plumetis jewelry.
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