Hubert de Givenchy

French fashion designer and entrepreneur, one of the greatest names in haute couture. He was awarded the Oscar for costume design for the movie, "Sabrina" (1954).

His father was the Marquis Lucien Taffin de Givenchy, a military pilot who died on 5 January 1930. Hubert and his older brother Jean-Claude (b. 1925) were raised in the town of Beauvais, 40 miles north of Paris. His mother, Beatrice, was the daughter of the director of the famous Beauvais tapestry works. When Hubert was a young boy, he would accompany his mother on her shopping trips to Paris. He avidly read her fashion magazines. An excellent student, Givenchy sketched during his class lessons. His grandfather treated him to the excitement of exploring the trunks of rare, exquisite fabrics. He decided to enter into the vocation of textiles and fashion.

In 1944, at the age of 17, he set out to Paris to find his first paying position. He landed the job as sketch artist with the couturier, Jacques Fath. Five years later, he was designing for Elsa Schiaparelli. Under the mentoring eye of Schiaparelli, Givenchy decided to break out on his own and open his own fashion house.

His first collection premiered to an enthusiastic audience in February 1952. At the age of 25, Givenchy captured an elegance and beauty in his clothes giving him a phenomenal debut. The affluent French women were dazzled by the simple polish and exquisite taste of his designs. His reputation grew to international circles and soon clients such as Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Princess Grace, the Duchess of Windsor and Jacqueline Kennedy visited the House of Givenchy at Avenue George V. In 1954, a young actress named Audrey Hepburn asked Givenchy to design her wardrobe for the film, "Sabrina." He was delighted to clothe the actress and at 27 he won the Oscar for costume design in Hollywood.