Ensemble
The relaxed attitudes of the 1960s could be achieved in couture day wear. Hubert de Givenchy excelled in a style associated with such nonchalant fashion paladins as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Audrey Hepburn. Learning from his mentor, Balenciaga, Givenchy offered a seemingly unstructured two-piece dress - which he dubbed "split level" - indebted to the Balenciaga sack. For necessary articulation of details, he employed "souplesse" instead of a tailor's dart, allowing a supplementary soft fold of material to give shape to these unassuming and chic tops. These ensembles (Alternate: 1979.435.9a, b) by Givenchy were the "working uniforms" of Diana Vreeland, then editor of Vogue magazine in New York.
Artwork Details
- Title: Ensemble
- Design House: House of Givenchy (French, founded 1952)
- Designer: Hubert de Givenchy (French, Beauvais 1927–2018 Paris)
- Date: fall/winter 1963–64
- Culture: French
- Medium: wool
- Credit Line: Gift of Diana Vreeland, 1979
- Object Number: 1979.435.10a, b
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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