Summer 2024 Menswear
by Matthew M. Williams

Elegance as an expression of individuality. Sartorialism as a gesture of nonconformity. A free-spirited sophistication. For the Spring Summer 2024 Menswear show, Givenchy examines the relationship between a new culture of masculine dressing and the codes of the classic gentleman’s wardrobe. Drawing on his own generational experience, Artistic Director Matthew M. Williams observes in the spirit of the times a re-contextualisation of the archetypes of smartness: a reset perception of the well-tailored silhouette devoid of the preordained virtues of the past.

Tuxedos in lurex or brushed wool reflect an idea of realistic proportion, neither oversized nor sculpted, and appear slightly elongated in length and shortened at the sleeve as a nod to the formative notion of sophistication. They herald the pinnacle of customised elegance: a series of hand-made suits expressed in double-breasted silk-wool blazers with magnet closures, sculpted square shoulders achieved through hand-carved pads, and eliminated back seams. The details are applied to an intricately tailored haute couture military jacket in diagonal wool imitating the texture of the authentic piece that inspired it. The generational take on high dressmaking evolves in jumpsuits – a painstaking tailoring exercise – echoed in waistcoats and trousers that create a similar silhouette.

Worn around the waist, technical bags in suede, nylon and webbing reinforce a real and functional approach to elegance. Nodding at the schoolboy motif, backpacks in mixed tech materials and scuffed suedes take macro or micro form and are styled to accentuate the play on proportions central to the collection. The scuffed suedes are mirrored in the triangular Voyou, which emerges in a cross-body bag with silver and gold hardware, and in magnified-toe derbies and boots which also feature in leathers, alongside a flat loafer. A hybrid proposal for a new wardrobe mentality, a lightweight sneaker in nylon and corduroy transforms the language of hiking shoes into an elegant shape and fuses the constructions of sneakers and dress shoes through the Maison’s savoir-faire.