Hubert James Taffin de Givenchy, who died in 2018 aged 91, undoubtedly had a head start in life - he was a French-Venetian aristocrat and the youngest son of a marquis. His instinct for fine textiles came early on: Jules Badin, his maternal grandfather, was the director of the Beauvais and Gobelins tapestry factories.
Givenchy’s mother, Béatrice, wanted him to be a lawyer. When, aged 17, he told her he would prefer to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, she relented, telling him to do so if he must, only to do it well.
Eight years later, in 1952, he opened Maison de Givenchy, which he swiftly established as one of the most progressive couture houses of the post-war era alongside contemporaries such as Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain. His lengthy list of famous clients included the film stars Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, as well as the Duchess of Windsor and Jackie Kennedy Onassis. He would lead Maison de Givenchy for 43 years until his retirement in 1995.
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