Givenchy Spring 2026 Gives Life to “Powerful Femininity”
In the moments before Sarah Burton’s sophomore offering for Givenchy, Jenna Ortega and Gwendoline Christie gave us a teaser in the form of two soon-to-show looks. First, Ortega arrived in a sheer red gown overflowing with ruffles at the neckline. Then Christie walked in wearing an expertly tailored shirt and skirt, a deeply romantic take on suiting that felt both powerful and incredibly feminine. It turned out these were the exact words Burton herself used to describe the collection: powerful femininity. The showing was all about giving life to feminine archetypes through considered explorations of tailoring, gowns, and states of undress.
It worked to Burton’s profound strengths. “It started with peeling back the structure of tailoring to reveal skin and a sense of lightness and ease,” said the designer. This came through in a mini suit dress with exaggerated sleeves and delicately raw hemline; the regal shirt and tailored skirt Christie wore; and a slim-cut single-breasted suit apt to give Le Smoking a run for its money. Mona Tougaard wore a black thin-strap gown with front pockets, a cut just above the knee in the front and ankle-grazing at the back with a white interior visible—a vision of elegance if there ever was one.
Burton built upon these takes on tailoring with explorations of what it is to dress up and undress, all through a woman’s lens. A pale pink silk minidress with a sash-cape down the back created an Audrey Hepburn for Hubert de Givenchy moment. A transparent strapless netted cherry gown had a voluminous tiered ruffle neckline. Burton brought drama and romance in spades. A white tulle dress with a shell bralet, a motif in the collection, held angelic appeal. A trenchcoat took on the curves of the female body. Leather pieces—from tailored skirts in the same pattern as the wool iterations to a heart-shaped moto jacket with exposed zippers on the exaggerated collar—were standouts. Power and vulnerability were interwoven, one and the same. For Burton, the collection was all about celebrating the strengths of women. It showed.
