Sarah Burton’s Givenchy debut is a careful, forward-looking reset of the past

PARIS (AP) — Givenchy's new creative director debuted on Friday in one of Paris Fashion Week’s most anticipated moments and a long-awaited reset for a house that, in recent years, has struggled to find its footing.

For Sarah Burton, who took over the reins last September, Givenchy’s legacy has loomed large — immortalized in Audrey Hepburn’s little black dress in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, then upended by Riccardo Tisci, who spent 12 years reshaping the brand with his gothic, street-inflected vision before departing in 2017.

Since then, the house has been adrift, caught between its classical heritage and the aftershocks of Tisci’s reign.

With Burton — known for her emotionally charged, intricately crafted collections during her long stay at Alexander McQueen — at the helm of Givenchy, the question remained whether she would radically upend the house or retrace it to its roots.

The answer became clear on Friday — a carefully executed recalibration rather than an overhaul.

“To go forward, you have to go back to the beginning. To me, that’s about the atelier. It’s the heart and soul of Givenchy,” said Burton.

A quietly intimate setting gets an explosive backdrop

Even before the first look appeared, the front-row chatter was split between anticipation for Burton’s debut and the less glamorous disruption outside — an unexploded World War II bomb found on Friday near Paris’s Gare du Nord, France's busiest rail station, which had snarled travel, delaying flights for jet-setting fashion editors and VIP guests.

Still, an atmosphere of controlled intimacy prevailed inside Givenchy’s Avenue George V ateliers, a deliberate move by Burton to strip away theatrics and focus on craft. Among those taking it all in was Gwendoline Christie, her statuesque presence a perfect match for Burton’s vision of femme-power. Nearby, Rooney Mara, Vanessa Kirby and Yseult watched on.

Precision over spectacle

The collection was atelier-driven, precise and grounded in the language of couture. It reflected Burton’s aesthetic sensibilities honed over 27 years at Alexander McQueen, where she softened McQueen’s savage armor into a celebration of powerful femininity. There, she worked with everything from Tudor references to biological forms, deconstructing and reconfiguring clothing as both protection and vulnerability.

Givenchy, however, is a different house — one of graceful restraint — and Burton approached it with studied reverence, rather than McQueen's fantasticality.

That balance — between past and future, heritage and renewal — was clear in a pale yellow hybrid onesie that was simultaneously 1960s and 2060s, both vintage and futuristic. It was also evident in one of the collection’s defining silhouettes: dresses draped effortlessly from the neck, suspended in air like modern sculptures — both couture and sporty.

A tribute to Givenchy’s archive, with a few familiar notes

The rigor of tailoring was everywhere — strong shoulders, an hourglass waist, coats cut with surgical precision.

There were nods to the rediscovered archive patterns of Hubert de Givenchy, reinterpreted into modern forms: Chantilly lace dresses hacked into micro lengths, cocoon-backed jackets that referenced the 1950s but with new, provocative sensuality, and scarf-like leather draping.

A key moment came when Czech model and actor Eva Herzigová — a surprise addition to the cast — took a turn on the runway, her presence reinforcing the house’s classical legacy.

Some moments, however, felt all too familiar. Burton reimagined Givenchy’s iconic “Babydoll” dress from Spring/Summer 1958 haute couture, modernizing it for Fall/Winter 2025.

However, the result, a billowing tulle froth ball, skewed closer to Giambattista Valli than the age-old house's own DNA. It was one of the indulgent flourishes in the disciplined collection.

A prelude to what’s next

The restraint was intentional — designed to signal a future evolution rather than an immediate upheaval.

Burton's debut underscored that her Givenchy is about raising expectations in subtle nudges, rather than rewriting the rules overnight. It is a foundation laid with precision, an act of quiet confidence — leaving the audience wondering not just what this debut was, but where it might lead.