CULTURE

Rebel Wilson Wears Custom Couture Givenchy By Clare Waight Keller

"I think it’s a really cool move that they’re being inclusive."

by Marissa G. Muller

2018 InStyle Awards - Arrivals
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Few are having a better 2018 than Clare Waight Keller, the design head of Givenchy who recently took over for Riccardo Tisci. Keller is making headlines once again for dressing Rebel Wilson, just a few months after dressing Meghan Markle on her wedding day in an elegant, minimal boatneck gown. Keller’s creation for Wilson was, likewise, historical, although quite different stylistically.

When Wilson made a red carpet appearance in Los Angeles last night, she did so in a black sheath dress with lace inset, a pair of white and black pumps, and an elaborately decked-out pair of glasses. The look marked the fashion house’s first couture plus-size ensemble, according to Wilson’s stylist Elizabeth Stewart—a very cool move indeed. “I could be wrong, but Givenchy normally makes sample sizes, and obviously, I’m not sample-size,” Wilson told People on the red carpet. “I don’t know if they’ve ever made a plus-size couture dress before; they may have, but my stylist, Elizabeth Stewart, told me, ‘This is a massive deal.’ She’s never heard of them doing something like this.”

Australian actress Rebel Wilson arrives at the 4th Annual InStyle Awards at The Getty Center in Los Angeles on October 22, 2018.

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While Givenchy may not have an archive that includes other plus-size couture looks, the fashion house has formally dressed at least one other plus-size celebrity before: The Gossip frontwoman and fashion muse Beth Ditto. Ditto wore a look by Givenchy back in 2014 when she attended Tisci’s Paris Fashion Week Fall/Winter show, though the look wasn’t from the couture collection.

PARIS, FRANCE – MARCH 02: Beth Ditto attends the Givenchy show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2014-2015 on March 2, 2014 in Paris, France.

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Wilson was honored to wear one of Keller’s designs, no less the first high-profile couture one since her splashy royal moment in May. “I think the last big couture piece that [Givenchy artistic director] Clare Waight Keller did was Meghan Markle‘s wedding dress,” Wilson said. “And now she’s making me a dress, so that’s kind of amazing just in and of itself. But then factor in the fact that it’s Givenchy—an amazing Paris fashion house—I’m a bit shocked how it all happened but really grateful. I think it’s a really cool move that they’re being inclusive with someone like me.” Hopefully, that inclusivity will soon continue with other fashion houses following in Keller’s wake and catering to a more diverse clientele.

Related: Clare Waight Keller: Pretty, Cool