I was never the biggest Givenchy fan. In fact I was actually never a Givenchy fan at all. If you are regular reader you will know that practical fashion is my favourite. If it is something you could find in my wardrobe, I'll buy it. Givenchy never made clothes like that, Givnechy made art and sometimes clothes for a museum. I am not a mannequin so I do not wear clothes that follow function after form.

Recently Givenchy has become a favourite for me. I started paying attention to the fashion house ever since they started making what seems like Rihanna inspired clothing.

Givenchy AW 13

It seems as if the fashion house has gone in a more youthful direction. Youth of today are becoming a lot more androgynous in terms of dress sense. The girls dress like boys and boys dress like girls. Skinny jeans and oversized tshirts have become interchangeable between the sexes. The androgynous look is not the only clothing style that illustrates urban youth culture today. The prints have become bigger, bolder and better and you can definitely quote Givenchy as a source for photography being used as a print.

Givenchy AW 11

If you wish to embrace future fashion trends for urban youth culture, invest in a Givenchy pullover. The reason why I say it is a future fashion trend is because young people don't know that they need Givenchy pullovers yet. We are all still stuck in the '90s London way of dressing. There is nothing wrong in that, well actually there is. As South Africans we tend to stick to the same trend for two years, trends that have long been dismissed in fashion forward countries. If we want to evolve into a fashionable nation, we need to pick up on trends quicker and not linger around the same trend for two years or more.

Givenchy Blog Post by mputazovuyo on polyvore.com

Look At The Photographs from Givenchy's Paris Fashion Week Collection, AW 12/13
Because the French brand headed by Riccardo Tisci might be out of your price range it would be better to find a cheaper alternative or even make your own t-shirts.

Givency AW 11

There are various pieces of print clothing you can buy from Givenchy. They are mostly inspired by Christianity (the prints), an inspiration which was also seen at Dolce and Gabbana's Autumn/Winter 2013/2014 menswear collection.

Read The Best of Milan Menswear Fashion Week Blog Post
The first time Givenchy released the religion inspired garments was at their 2013 Fall Menswear show in Paris. As I mentioned above I had no interest in the show as I had no interest in the brand so I didn't bother to take a look at the collection. A couple of weeks later we saw the same inspiration being used at the women's 2013 Fall show in Paris.

Givenchy Womenswear AW 13

Look At The Photographs from Givenchy's Paris Fashion Week Collection, AW 12/13
The religious icons were used a lot more in the menswear show and were paired with plain items. In the women's collection there were all sorts of patterns and graphics including paisley and roses.

If you are not used to wearing print you might struggle at first to incorporate print and someone else's face into your wardrobe. As long as everything else you wearing is simple you will be fine.

Givenchy AW 11

One thing Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy makes obvious is that men and women can dress according to this trend. If you do not wish to wear the all the Givenchy prints you can always carry them. Various accessories have also been baptised with Tisci's vision. You can either carry a bag or clutch that has the doberman photo which has not been illustrated in the various shows.

The Doberman printed t-shirt has been worn by various celebrities including Kanye West, Kobe Bryant, Pink, Rihanna, Usher and Liv Tyler. The Doberman printed t-shirt is originally from the 2011 mens collection. With the popularity of the Madonna printed t-shirts, everyone is going back to the doberman shirts.

Whether we like it or not this Givenchy collection will trend. The current winter range is obviously very controversial as it has the face of religious figures but it is time we all relaxed a bit.

I always thought Givenchy was too arty for me and not practical enough but obviously I was wrong. With Riccardo Tisci at the helm, Givenchy speaks to the generation of now. Because it is a bit pricey we might not be able to wear authentic Givenchy but there is nothing wrong in adapting certain items of clothing you already have to fit in with the Givenchy regime. Various retail stores will be copying the look but it would be better to have the authentic item so rather draw inspiration from the various collections I have put up than by fake.

At the moment Givenchy might not be the main contributor to a young person's dress sense but in a couple of years, even months it will be the main inspiration so get your wallets ready.


Short Film by Gordon von Steiner for Givenchy ss13 Menswear Barneys Launch