来源：英文联播
The Fashion Legacy of Hubert de Givenchy， “Creator of Personality”
In April of 1952， at the age of twenty-five， Hubert de Givenchy arrived at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel， in New York， with eight elaborate couture gowns。 He was making his American début at the first annual April in Paris Ball， a high-society spectacle that was meant to strengthen Franco-American relations through the power of good old-fashioned beau-monde hedonism。
1952年4月，25岁的于贝尔·德·纪梵希来到纽约华尔道夫·阿斯托利亚饭店，展示八套精致的定制礼服。他的美国首秀选择了每年一度的“巴黎厅四月”，当年是第一届。这一上流社会聚会旨在通过展现老式上流社会的享乐来加强法美关系。
The event featured， among other attractions， zoo animals rented from the Ringling Brothers circus； a living tableau in which Sir Laurence Olivier and Rex Harrison played François I and Henry VIII； a gift of fine French perfume for the women and neckties made in Lyon for the men； and a cavernous ballroom transformed to resemble the gardens at Versailles。 And yet the most memorable impression of the night was， perhaps， the one left behind by the six-foot-five wunderkind couturier。
活动精彩纷呈，从林林兄弟马戏团租借来了圈养动物，劳伦斯·奥利弗和雷克斯·哈里森分别扮演弗朗索瓦一世和亨利八世进行现场表演，女士会得到高级法国香水，男士则得到里昂产领带，还有巨大舞池改造而成的凡尔赛花园。那晚最让人记忆深刻的可能是那位6英尺5英寸高的女装设计新秀。
During the fashion-show portion of the evening， the crowd cooed over Givenchy’s meticulously embroidered boleros and a starched white peplum cape that looked like stiff meringue。
当晚时装秀上，人们对纪梵希细心绣制的波莱罗女衫和像打发蛋白霜一样笔挺的过浆白褶披肩赞不绝口。
Givenchy， who died on March 10th， at the age of ninety-one， was born in Beauvais， France， the grandson of a tapestry-maker， and blazed through teen-age apprenticeships at the houses of Jacques Fath， Robert Piguet， and Elsa Schiaparelli before striking out on his own， in February of 1952。
3月10日，纪梵希辞世，享年91岁。他生于法国博韦，祖父是织锦挂毯制造商。1952年2月自立门户前，他在杰奎斯·菲斯、罗伯特·皮埃特和艾尔萨·夏帕瑞丽门下学徒。
His vision was clear from the beginning： he was determined to give women in the postwar era more plentiful options by designing “separates”—couture tops and bottoms that could be mixed and matched at will。 The idea for a two-piece ball gown was， at the time， quite the innovation。 “By giving her the opportunity to make changes in her costume，” one fashion reporter for the Times gushed after meeting Givenchy， in 1952， “the designer feels that he is offering his client the pleasure of feeling herself a bit of a creator of her own style。”
打一开始，他就目标鲜明，决心通过设计“单件装”，给战后女性更多选择——高级上装和下装，可自行混搭。两件套的舞会套装，这一灵感在当时算得上大胆创新。“通过给她们服饰变化的选择，”《时代》杂志的时尚记者在1952年采访纪梵希后称赞道：“设计师觉得他正在给顾客一种愉悦的感觉：打造自我风格。”
Still， in the summer of 1953， when the woman who would become his most important client first walked into his atelier in Paris， neither was yet a household name。 As the well-worn anecdote goes， when Givenchy heard that a movie actress with the surname Hepburn was due to pay him a visit， he assumed that he would be meeting Katharine， and was confused when a woman appeared at his door “with doe eyes and short hair and wearing a pair of narrow pants， a little T-shirt， slippers， and a gondolier’s hat with a red ribbon that said Venezia。”
1953年夏天，一位女士头一回走进他位于巴黎的工作室时，两位都还默默无名，她将来要成为他最重要的客户。正如老套的故事，纪梵希听到一个叫做赫本的女演员要来拜访时，他以为自己要见的是卡瑟琳·赫本，所以当这位赫本站在门口时，他大惑不解，“一双小鹿般的眸子，短发，瘦腿儿裤，小T恤，拖鞋，系着红丝带的威尼斯船夫帽，丝带上写着威尼斯。”
It was the twenty-four-year-old Audrey Hepburn， fresh off the filming of “Roman Holiday。” She had come to Paris， at the urging of the director Billy Wilder， to purchase authentic French clothing for “Sabrina。” Givenchy was charmed by her， but he was in the throes of preparations for his fall presentation， so he told her that he had absolutely no time to create anything new for her to wear。
这是24岁的奥黛丽·赫本，刚拍完《罗马假日》。她来到巴黎，按导演比利·怀尔德的要求，为“萨布丽娜”选购地道的法式服装。纪梵希被她深深倾倒，但他正忙于准备自己的秋季大秀，所以他告诉赫本，自己完全没有时间为她设计全新的服饰。
Hepburn begged to try on the existing sample garments that were hanging around from a previous season， and， in a mid-century spin on “Cinderella，” every seam fit the slender actress perfectly。 Givenchy was so delighted to see this giddy actress bouncing around in a black cocktail dress， his signature boxy neckline flattering her clavicle， that he dropped his work that evening to take her out to a bistro。
赫本就请求试穿那些架子上前几季现成样品。她像灰姑娘一样转了个圈，每一针每一线都完美合身。看着这为令人怦然心动的女演员穿着黑色鸡尾酒舞会裙活泼踱步，纪梵希标志性的四方领口托着她的锁骨，纪梵希喜出望外，那晚他放下手头的工作带她去了一家小酒馆。
For the next four decades， Hepburn wore Givenchy with near-religious devotion。 Most famously， she wore a Givenchy gown as she stood idly munching on a pastry outside the Tiffany windows as Holly Golightly， a scene that stopped traffic on Fifth Avenue as it was being filmed。
此后四十年，赫本虔诚地穿着纪梵希的服饰。最著名的是她扮演郝利·戈莱特利时，穿着纪梵希的裙装，慵懒地站在蒂凡尼橱窗前嚼着面包。拍摄这一场景时，第五大道的交通都停滞了。
Many designers have a muse， but the Hepburn-Givenchy relationship was something more entwined and symbiotic。 The actress often called the designer just to talk， and she told reporters that he was a “psychiatrist” as well as a dressmaker。
很多设计师都有一位缪斯，但赫本和纪梵希的关系要算一种共生共栖。这位女演员经常叫上设计师去散步，她还告诉记者，他既是精神科医生也是服装设计师。
In Hepburn， Givenchy found an ideal emissary for his theory of separates； she became known as a jaunty pip in his clothes because she could move in them。 Givenchy’s legacy is the notion of “personal style，” a concept we now take for granted， but one that was not baked into fashion in the same way before Hepburn and the little black dress that helped make her a star。 “He is far more than a couturier，” Hepburn said of Givenchy。 “He is a creator of personality。”
纪梵希发现赫本是单件服装理论的理想代言人。赫本穿着他设计的衣服，被比作快活的果仁，因为她活动自如。纪梵希的遗产就是“个人风格”，这种概念我们现在习以为常，但在赫本和小黑裙让她成为明星前，这一理念还不算时尚。“他远不只是一位服装设计师。”赫本这么评价纪梵希，“他是个性的塑造者。”
Givenchy was as avid a businessman as he was a designer。 In witnessing Hepburn’s rise firsthand， he saw the limitless potential of brand recognition。 In the seventies， he launched a menswear line， officially licensed his name， and became one of the first designers to put his brand on more than just clothing—Givenchy silverware， china， hotel draperies all eventually became available。
纪梵希既是热情的设计师也是贪婪的商人。看着赫本步步高升，他也看到了品牌认知度的无限潜力。上世纪七十年代，他启动了男装流水线，正式以自己的名字为品牌命名，也成为首批以自己名字命名除服装外其他商品的设计师。纪梵希银器、瓷器、酒店织物等相继问世。
The name “Givenchy” became shorthand for bubbly， au-courant French chic with a dash of Old World sophistication。 After Givenchy’s retirement from designing， in 1995， the house （which he sold to LVMH， in 1988） became a breeding ground for young， avant-garde designers launching their careers—John Galliano， Alexander McQueen， Julien Macdonald， and then， for twelve years， Riccardo Tisci， who rebranded the house with ornately gothic gowns in delicate oxblood and putty-colored gauze。 （It is said that Tisci was the only person who did not mention Hepburn in his interview， and this radical omission clinched his job。）
“纪梵希”这个名字代表了活泼和与时俱进的法式时髦，又不乏一点旧世界的精致。1995年，纪梵希从设计界退休后，这一时尚王国（1988年卖给了路易威登）成为年轻的先锋设计师开启事业的孵化器，如约翰·加里阿诺、亚历山大·麦昆、朱利安·麦克唐纳德。此后二十年中，里卡多·提西用精致的深红色哥特式华服和浅灰色薄纱重新定义了这个房间。（据说提西是唯一在采访中不提赫本的人，这种激进的疏忽让他牢牢抓住了职位。）
Tisci left Givenchy in 2017， and now the house has its first woman at the helm， Clare Waight Keller， a British whiz kid who， in the mold of the house’s namesake， had done stints at Calvin Klein， Gucci， Pringle of Scotland， and Chloé by the age of forty-one。
提西2017年离开纪梵希，现在这个时尚王国迎来了第一位女性掌舵者。克莱尔·维特·凯勒是英国后起之秀，41岁时就曾在卡文·克莱、古驰、普林格尔苏格兰和蔻依干过。
In October， Keller presented her first collection， after an hour-long meeting with the ninety-year-old Givenchy。 She told the press that she had pored over his early sketches and found that he designed from the shoulder down， so she had done the same。
十月，凯勒在和90岁的纪梵希会面一小时后，展示了她的第一季服装。她告诉记者，自己研究了纪梵希早期的草图，发现他是从肩部以下开始设计的，所以她也这么做了。
What emerged was a collection that returned to items with square， sleek silhouettes—many of them separates—in winking homage to Givenchy’s early work。 Keller showed a navy double-breasted dress， a black-and-white evening gown paired with cowboy boots， and a fluttery cocktail dress the color of Red Hots with a neckline similar to the one Hepburn wore in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s。”
她的设计回归到有棱有角、造型优美的轮廓造型，很多都是单件，向纪梵希的早期作品致意。凯勒拿出了对襟海军裙、黑白晚礼服搭配牛仔靴及蓬蓬的鲜红色鸡尾酒会礼服，领圈与赫本在《蒂凡尼早餐》的着装相似。
This sleek but youthful collection débuted at the Palais de Justice， a grandiose building in the center of Paris， where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned while awaiting her execution。 It had never been used for a fashion show before， but， as in the case of the April in Paris Ball， the house of Givenchy has never shied away from spectacle。 The elder designer did not attend the show， but Keller said later that she felt she had his blessing。
这个系列造型优雅却青春洋溢，在巴黎市中心宏伟的司法宫首次亮相，玛丽·安托瓦内特（路易十六皇后）在等待处决前被囚禁于此。以前这里从未用于举办时装秀，但正如在“巴黎厅四月”一样，纪梵希帝国从不畏大场面。虽然年迈的设计师纪梵希没有出席，但凯勒后来说，她感觉自己得到了他的祝福。
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