Givenchy’s show was one of the most anticipated of this PFW season and also the biggest bummer. Did we foolishly savoured the anticipation?

Givenchy has not enjoyed a run of memorable creative directors. Whether that’s because of unsuitable hires or tough retail conditions that necessitated unspectacular clothes is debatable. We are not hoping for the short reign of John Galliano (those days are truly gone), but neither were we looking forward to a let down that tumbled many steps. When Sarah Burton was confirmed to go to Givenchy last September, many observers predicted that the maison could possibly enjoy a change of luck. From her time at Alexander McQueen (26 years in total, of which two saw her assisting Mr McQueen when he was designing Givenchy between 1996 to 2001), the Macclesfield-born, Princess of Wales’s favourite generally enjoyed some reputational sturdiness, although it is not hard to say that she plateaued in at least the last six years of her tenure at McQueen.

She is known to be a hands-on designer and technically skilled (although she has not been a risk-taker, compared to her late boss). But, however brilliant one is as a technician, one does not automatically become a compelling designer. For Givenchy, Ms Burton, left no doubt to her technical abilities, but revealed little of her knack for design that could send the audience to a heart-stopping high. The clothes appeared to be rifts on archival pieces—the tailoring and the dresses (she supposedly went back to the very beginning)—but what was the opening look of a mesh union suit emblazoned with the text “Givenchy Paris 1952”? Hint of fetishwear? Does that set the tone for what she hoped to advance—the synthesis of undergarments and see-through leotards to better serve the emancipation of whoever needs to be freed from economic, social or dress restraint? We can hear the enthusiastic praise: she celebrates women! So did Hubert de Givenchy. What would Ms Burton otherwise do?

If Givenchy is in urgent need to find its footing, is this collection, even if only Ms Burton’s very first, the one to leap the brand into an adoration-gathering place? It is hard to make out if she pushed forward or fell many steps back. Sure, the tailoring was deft (those front-to-back switch) and we appreciated it (especially how she shaped the sleeves), but there was little that one could rave about the nipped-in waist and the dropped shoulders. Or the oversized biker jacket with the diagonal zip opening. They just seemed familiar. And sure, the dresses would be popular among certain social sets, but how ground breaking is an asymmetric halter-neck (even if pleated and high) dress or the slimmer shift with what looked like a scrunched-up funnel neck? Ms Burton tried giving the audience something to see and marvel at. There was the mini-dress, festooned with what could be hinged cases for compact powder and similar top with what could be discarded drop earrings (Project Runway challenges?), as well as the finale froth—a near-barrel of pouf-y yellow tulle. And those curious Oriental-ish embroidery that could have come straight out of a mooncake tin!

Many people may not remember predecessor Matthew Williams’s work—even less Claire Waight Keller, now at Uniqlo, but many more would recall the Riccardo Tisci years, when street-style (also when Bambi and Rottweiler met) made its presence very palpable. It is too early to say if Ms Burton, less and less inclined to explore more abstruse concepts, will offer a new narrative. Was she too set in her old ways? Did she try too hard? We are not asking for emotional resonance, just aesthetic engagement. To be sure, it is not a bad debut. We were not really irked by it, but neither where we bowled over. This was not the dramatic about turn from Matthew Williams’s collections (they, too, aroused nothing) that we had expected. She could have, for one, better edited the collection (was there a need for so many bra tops or looks involving a bra, for example?). This was not assembling a tray of crudité. Unlike Meghan Markle, Sarah Burton need not prove herself; she just needed to better herself. More so at a house as storied as Givenchy. And coming from Alexander McQueen.

Screen shot (top): givenchy/YouTube. Photos: Givenchy