The younger son of Lucien Taffin de Givenchy, Marquis de Givenchy, and his wife, the former Béatrice ("Sissi") Badin, Givenchy was born in
Beauvais, France. The Taffin family, which traces its roots to Venice, Italy (the original surname was Taffini), had been ennobled in 1713, at which time the head of the family became Marquis de Givenchy.
After his father's death from influenza in 1930, the future fashion designer and his elder brother, Jean-Claude (who inherited the family's marquessate and eventually became the president of Parfums Givenchy), were raised by their mother and maternal grandmother,
Marguerite Dieterle Badin, the widow of
Jules Badin, an artist who was the director of the historic Gobelins and Beauvais tapestry factories. Artistic professions ran in the extended Badin family. Givenchy's maternal great-grandfather, Jules Dieterle, was a set designer who also created designs for the Beauvais factory, including a set of 13 designs for the
Elysée Palace. One of his great-great-grandfathers also designed sets for the Paris Opera.
Impressed by the
1937 World's Fair in
Paris, young Givenchy decided he wanted to work "somewhere in fashion design". He studied at the
École des Beaux Arts in Paris. His first designs were done for
Jacques Fath in
1945, an association that came through family members who knew Fath personally. Later he did designs for
Lucien Lelong (
1946) — working alongside the still-unknown
Pierre Balmain and
Christian Dior. From
1947 to
1951 he worked for the
avantgarde designer
Elsa Schiaparelli.
In
1952, Givenchy opened his own design house at the
Plaine Monceau in Paris. Later he named his first collection "
Bettina Graziani" for
Paris's top
model at the time. His style was marked by innovativeness, contrary to the more conservative designs by Dior.
At 25, he was the youngest designer of the progressive Paris fashion scene. His first collections were characterized by the use of rather more cheap fabrics for financial reasons, but they always piqued curiosity through their design.
Audrey Hepburn, later the most prominent proponent of Givenchy's fashion, and Givenchy met in
1953 during the shoot of
Sabrina. He went on to design almost all the wardrobe worn by her in her movies. He also developed his first
perfume collection for her (L'Interdit and Le de Givenchy).
Grace Kelly, Gloria Guinness, Dolores Guinness, Babe Paley, The
Duchess of Windsor, Mona von Bismarck and
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis were other famous customers of Givenchy's.
At that time, Givenchy also met his idol,
Cristobal Balenciaga, who had also influenced
Paco Rabanne's work previously.
In
1968, Givenchy's
prêt-à-porter collection debuted; later a men's line was also launched.
The House of Givenchy was split in
1981, with the perfume line going to
Veuve Clicquot, while the fashion branch went to the
Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy group's portfolio of upscale brands. As of today,
Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy owns Parfum Givenchy as well.
Hubert de Givenchy retired from fashion design in
1995. His chosen successor to head the Givenchy label was
Dominique Sirop, but
Bernard Arnault, head of
LVMH, thought Sirop was not well enough known and appointed
John Galliano instead. After a brief stint by Galliano, a five year stay from
Alexander McQueen and a term from 2001 to 2004 by
Julian MacDonald, Givenchy women's ready to wear and haute couture has been headed by
Riccardo Tisci since 2005.
Givenchy's nephew,
James Taffin de Givenchy, is an American jewelry designer.
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