Just as on the runway, the lineup of lookbook images is always deliberate; it provides a trajectory that reveals how we’re meant to read a collection. The latest Givenchy offering opened with a cropped, belled jacket and short skirt—both in crisp white, both bordered in gumball-size pearls—which reinforced the polished esprit at the heart of the house, although Riccardo Tisci’s neo-baroque flair is unmistakably there. This elevated look defined one of three themes that the creative director employed for Resort, and while it may not strike with the same graphic gutsiness as the ancient Egyptian falcon motif reprised from Fall, it suggests he’s finding new interest in the old Givenchy codes. See also the black double-faced jacket with a flattering basque and exposed seams; the matching zip tops and skirts in delicate tulle and lace; the contoured plissé soleil pieces; and even the latest Horizon handbag, which pivots toward a more mature sensibility without compromising on edge. Styling exercises, meanwhile, don’t come more fun than Look 7, an all-black ensemble consisting of four layers that successfully managed to fuse Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Beyoncé.
Around this point, classic gives way to what Tisci conceived as the “skinhead romantic” grouping, where the curtain of tulle reappears in ghostly pink paired with a bustier dress supported by thick buckles and a day-to-night bomber. Thanks to wedge boots laced skyward or studded leather triangle bras intended to be exposed, the overall attitude ended up tough, seductive, and tailor-made for his empowered and extroverted tribe. The “urban” notion benefited from mixing logo T-shirts with color-blocked leather motorcycle pants and sport jersey dresses with jackets trimmed in dynamic scrollwork. Let it be known that Givenchy’s concept of camouflage consists of an abstracted paper money pattern.
Alongside the women’s collection, a men’s proposal played off the same themes to different outcomes, so that the falcon visual was maxed out as a total athletic look or was heat-bonded onto jacket tails, while red striping and workwear paneling effectively blurred the line between daywear and nightclub.
While both offerings were primarily shot on the streets of Naples, providing backdrops that spanned from refined to rundown, a denim range shot in studio rounded out the season. Modeled by Bella Hadid, the styles range from skinny with a shadow of stars replacing back pockets, to an ample trouser and jacket patterned in a grid of Swarovski crystals. They don’t share much aesthetic DNA with the Givenchy of yore, yet the workmanship is apparent. Plus, it never hurts to close a lookbook with a little sparkle.
