On the day she realized she was dying, she called me to her residence in Switzerland and welcomed me into the bedroom where she had been lying in bed for months.
– I have a gift for you. Open this box.
Under the tissue paper was a coat, which she gave me, saying:
“If you ever feel sad, my dear Hubert, put it on your shoulders and tell yourself that I, Audrey, am hugging you to bring you comfort.”
Hubert de Givenchy
On a hot summer day in 1953, in the Givenchy fashion house on Avenue Alfred de Vigny in Paris, the 26-year-old Hubert de Givenchy was expecting a distinguished guest. In the morning, his secretary had announced the visit of a “Miss Hepburn.” Hubert was delighted: even Katherine Hepburn, the famous star of the film Adam’s Rib, was paying him his attention! He had only opened his own fashion house a year earlier and did not yet have a large clientele.
But at the appointed time, it was not the Oscar-winning American actress who entered his salon, but an unknown 24-year-old. “My name is Audrey – Audrey Hepburn,” she introduced herself.
“She looked like a thin stalk of reed. A frail teenager, shod in ridiculous sandals, wearing a white T-shirt, tight-fitting checked trousers and a clumsy hat, like a gondolier’s,” Hubert later recalled.
Audrey told him that she was looking for a fashion designer for the dresses for the new film Sabrina. She wanted her heroine to be “dressed with French refinement.” Since Givenchy did not have time to dress for an unknown actress, he suggested that she choose from his recent collection, and she accepted.
The film Sabrina received only one Oscar – for costumes. But the glory went not to Hubert, but to Edith Head, the designer of the other characters’ clothes. Givenchy’s name did not even appear in the credits. Audrey came to Paris in person to apologize. “I reassured her: ‘Audrey, thanks to Sabrina I have so many clients that I can’t cope with them. I became famous, and not without your help,'” the designer recalled.
Thus began their friendship.
His muse was Audrey Hepburn. For “little Audrey,” as he affectionately called her, Hubert would have done anything.
In 1961, Breakfast at Tiffany’s was released on the big screen. Audrey played the main role, and Hubert created her the famous “little black dress” – a dress that defied the canons imposed by Madame Chanel. Later, Audrey would call this role the pinnacle of her career, and Givenchy would say that thanks to that dress “he became immortal.”
For Audrey, he was not only her personal tailor, but also her closest friend, a shoulder to cry on. Hubert was her support when she broke up with her first love, actor William Holden, whom she met on the set of Sabrina.
He stood by her when she married actor Mel Ferrer, when she lost her first child in a stillbirth, and when she christened their son, Sean, who was born in 1960. He also created the pink suit for her wedding to psychoanalyst Andrea Dotti.
Hubert remained with Audrey for 42 years – a bond based on devotion, understanding, patience and immense respect. She died on January 20, 1993, succumbing to cancer. At the funeral, Givenchy could not cry – he had used up all his tears during the months that Audrey had suffered. A few months later, he planted the lilies of the valley he loved on her grave.
After her death, Hubert realized he could no longer work – in 1995 he retired from fashion, leaving his house in the hands of John Galliano. He retired to an estate near Paris, devoting himself to gardening and rarely appearing in public. When asked to talk about Audrey, he smiled enigmatically:
“She was an extraordinary woman and I miss her terribly.”
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