“In my collections, I always speak to lived reality. For Spring 2022, our first pre-collection runway show, I wanted to bring together my American roots and my brand new life in Paris. There’s an energy of striking out for a new adventure, of drawing on something familiar yet creating something completely new. Chito made an ideal collaborator because we share that storyline; we speak the same language. Like me, he expresses his distinct visual signatures through unique pieces that give people total freedom to make creations their own personal statement.”
Matthew M. Williams, Creative Director, Givenchy
With the Givenchy Spring 2022 pre-collection, Creative Director Matthew M. Williams expands on the new tone and attitude he has established for the House by celebrating two cultures and two loves — his homeland, and France, the country he now calls home.
A video shot by Jasmine Loignon evokes Matthew M. Williams’ journey from the U.S. to France. It opens with Lady Liberty beckoning Givenchy women and men to strike out in search of urban adventure and they roam the city freely in a rich, slightly Surreal layering of cross-border references. A spirit of bridging worlds — with a runway set amid a Paris train yard — becomes an ideal metaphor for the Creative Director’s first artistic collaboration for Givenchy: a playful, directional dialogue with the Seattle-born, Mexico-based artist Chito for clothes, accessories and RIMOWA suitcases. In the closing shot, New York and Paris become one.
