Count Hubert James Marcel Taffin de Givenchy (born February 20, 1927) is a French aristocrat and fashion designer who founded the The House of Givenchy in 1952. He is famous for having designed much of the personal and professional wardrobe of Audrey Hepburn, as well as clothing for clients such as Jacqueline Kennedy.
The younger son of Lucien Taffin de Givenchy, Marquis de Givenchy, and his wife, the former Béatrice ("Sissi") Badin, Givenchy was born in Beauvais, France. The Taffin family, which traces its roots to Venice, Italy (the original surname was Taffini), had been ennobled in 1713, at which time the head of the family became Marquis de Givenchy.
After his father's death from influenza in 1930, the future fashion designer and his elder brother Jean-Claude (who inherited the family's marquessate and eventually became the president of Parfums Givenchy), were raised by their mother and maternal grandmother, Marguerite Dieterle Badin, the widow of Jules Badin, an artist who was the director of the historic Gobelins and Beauvais tapestry factories. Artistic professions ran in the extended Badin family. Givenchy's maternal great-grandfather, Jules Dieterle, was a set designer who also created designs for the Beauvais factory, including a set of 13 designs for the Elysée Palace. One of his great-great-grandfathers also designed sets for the Paris Opera.
Impressed by the 1937 World's Fair in Paris, young Givenchy decided he wanted to work ...
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