Clare Waight Keller drives change at Givenchy while honouring classic looks

“Fashion is a tool for self-metamorphosis,” she says. “It can transform the spirit through a new attitude for new beginnings.”

The show certainly marks this new chapter. For starters, it showed yesterday at Palais de Justice on Île de la Cité – a venue that’s never been used for a fashion show before. It’s also the first time Givenchy showed its men’s and women’s collections together at Paris Fashion Week.

Celebrities, such as Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Julianne Moore, Fan Bingbing and Lee Dongwook, turned out to witness Waight Keller’s first outing as creative director.

Ricardo Tisci, who left Givenchy after 12 years, left big shoes to fill, and Waight Keller stepped up to the challenge with a collection that departs from Tisci’s punk-infusion and gravitates towards lightness and femininity.