Alexandre Samson – författare

The first and only comprehensive overview of Givenchy’s collections, presented through catwalk photography and published in collaboration with the celebrated fashion house.With 2.5 million copies in print, each cloth-bound volume in the official and authorized Catwalk series is produced in close collaboration with the world's top fashion houses. These treasure troves of inspiration are must-have references for all fashion fans and professionals.Founded by the dashing Hubert de Givenchy in 1952, the house would go on to symbolize the height of effortless elegance, as embodied by Givenchy’s muse (and close friend) Audrey Hepburn. After its founder’s retirement in 1995, John Galliano first took the reins of the house, before being succeeded by a young Alexander McQueen, who created his first (and only) haute couture collections for Givenchy. More recently, Italian designer Riccardo Tisci took the brand into a resolutely contemporary direction following his appointment in 2005 (dressing icons such as Beyoncé), followed by Clare Waight Keller and American designer Matthew M. Williams. This definitive publication – the only monograph in print on the house of Givenchy – opens with a concise history of the fashion house before exploring the collections themselves, which are organized chronologically. Each new era in Givenchy’s history opens with a brief overview and biography of the new designer, while individual collections are introduced by a short text unveiling their influences and highlights, illustrated with carefully curated catwalk images. A rich reference section, including an extensive index, concludes the book. After Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, Prada, Vivienne Westwood, Versace and Chloé, Givenchy is the ninth in a series of high-end, clothbound books that offer an unrivalled overview of the collections of the world’s top fashion houses through original catwalk photography.

Timed to coincide with a major exhibition, this volume revisits the years during which celebrated designer Martin Margiela achieved the status as one of the most important designers at work today. One of the Antwerp group of six who changed the face of contemporary fashion, Margiela created 41 runway shows between 1989 and 2009 which promoted a unique vision of understated luxury -- monochromes, oversize volumes, and his signature constructed-deconstructed cuts - whose credo is comfort, timelessness, sensuality, and authenticity. Famously reclusive, Margiela never showed his face even at his own shows in order that the work could stand purely on its own, free from any link to celebrity or self-promotion. This volume chronicles these amazing fashion shows in careful detail: the extraordinary spaces, the music, the designer's intentions, the iconic pieces. Over the years, recurring motifs and inspirations become more apparent including anonymity, whiteness, past and anteriority, diversion. The book reveals the sensitive, poetic and incredibly innovative universe of this most influential contemporary fashion designer.