GIVENCHY, HUBERT DE

born Feb. 21, 1927, Beauvais, France French dress designer noted for his designs of blouses, skirts, and slacks (separates) and his internationally operated ready-to-wear boutiques. Givenchy studied art at the cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later studied law. At 17 he was apprenticed to the Parisian designer Jacques Fath, and for the next eight years he designed for the major Parisian fashion houses of Robert Piguet, Lucien Lelong, and Elsa Schiaparelli. In 1952 he opened his own house and slashed overhead cost to lower the prices of his designs. Givenchy's first collection, featuring flawlessly detailed separates, high-style coats, and elegant ball gowns, gained immediate international recognition. His designs used imaginative accessories, silk prints, and embroidered fabrics. His Bettina blouse reintroduced tailored shirting into high fashion. In 1957 he, along with the famed Spanish designer Cristbal Balenciaga, introduced the sack silhouette. Givenchy's designs for Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's brought into vogue the high-bosomed princess dress without sleeves or a belt. His ready-to-wear boutiques, opened in the 1960s, made high fashion available to women throughout the world at prices lower than those of individual, original creations.