Brand Evaluation

Givenchy has an extremely recognisable style for their brand, which was one of the main reasons I chose to study this brand. I knew that to fully understand the concepts behind the designs, styles and overall ethos of the brand, I needed to complete research not only into the founder, Hubert de Givenchy, but also his successor, Riccardo Tisci. Givenchy was in stimulated by his senses, the textures of materials moved him, and the structural complexities of buildings excited him. His obsessions of materials and fabrics awakened his inner creative, and led him to become one of the most famous and influential designers to this day. I had to understand how he felt about these elements, and to do this I began to look more intricately at fabrics, how they were woven together, their textures, as well as the buildings that stood around me. This influenced me heavily when it came to designing my looks, for example I wanted to mimic the stained glass windows from cathedrals in my editorial look, so I used multi-coloured jewels to do this. As well as this, I used location within my editorial looks to portray mood and emotion, as well as influence. For example, both shoots are completed within ruined areas. The first was shot in Netley Abbey, a ruined monastery, which to me resembled the Gothic nature of the brand. Alongside this, the model standing within the broken building portrays how they are innovative within their designs, bringing new to the old. The Gothic is an interesting element to Givenchy’s designs, as within many of their clothes, particularly their Haute Couture Designs, the Gothic is weaved into the clothes. They all contain and essence of the Gothic, whether that be in the colour palette, the size, the cut etc. I needed this to be shown within my work, so many of my designs have a shred of the Gothic darkness within them. I feel that by understanding the designer’s way of thinking, I could really understand their brand, and then move on to create my own looks and designs. Givenchy is continuing to expand their brand, recently gathering a younger audience, which I needed to keep in mind when creating my looks. I needed my looks to be versatile, so for example, I made one advert shoot very soft, which targeted an older audience, whilst the second was much more dramatic, aimed at a younger audience. My editorials were to be able to catch the viewer’s eye, whether they are old or young, so they had to be fresh, interesting and dramatic. I think that my designs cater for their target audience that Givenchy want. Overall, I am happy with the chosen brand, and feel that after this unit I have a much wider knowledge of the brand itself, as well as the way it works. The way the styles join up through the makeup, the catwalk and the clothes is really interesting and something that I have learnt within this unit.