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Hubert de Givenchy|House of Givenchy

ca. 1967 · wool · Costume Institute

The relaxed attitudes of the 1960s could be achieved in couture day wear. Hubert de Givenchy excelled in a style associated with such non-chalant style paladins as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Audrey Hepburn. Learning from his mentor, Balenciaga, Givenchy offered a seemingly unstructured two-piece dress indebted to the Balenciaga sack, and dubbed his "split level." 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.

Artist

Hubert de Givenchy|House of Givenchy

Date

ca. 1967

Medium

wool

Culture

French

Department

Costume Institute

Credit line

Gift of Diana Vreeland, 1979