In a series of posts on Instagram, Givenchy announced Matthew M. Williams as the label’s new artistic director.
After Clare Waight Keller left the house last year in April, Givenchy’s parent company LVMH was looking for young talent that could take the lead of the French luxury house and it seems that their search has come to an end.
Matthew M. Williams is the founder of his immensely successful streetwear brand 1017 ALYX 9SM, shortly known as ALYX. Matthew is no stranger to LVMH as he was the winner of the LVMH prize in 2016, after which he launched his brand.
Indirectly, he was one of the founders of the label ‘Been Trill’ along Louis Vuitton’s current menswear designer Virgil Abloh.
Matthew has also worked with LVMH-owned Dior’s menswear designer Kim Jones for an exclusive accessories line and shares a deep relationship with the designer.
At ALYX, Matthew is known for taking the luxury approach to streetwear with strong tailoring and young designs being the highlights of the collections.
His collections have gained significant popularity especially their menswear division which is highly regarded among streetwear influencers. This may turn game changing as Givenchy’s menswear division along with their streetwear venture didn’t see much success during Clare’s time.
Givenchy also released an audio tape of the designer thanking the label and LVMH for the opportunity along with expressing his vision for the brand that involves bringing a change through his designs. Givenchy’s next collection, which is set for October this year, will be Matthew’s first collection for the label.
Started almost 7 decades back, Givenchy’s operations in Europe account for 42 per cent of business, while in China it’s 18 per cent; Asia-Pacific, 14 per cent; US, 12 per cent; the Middle East, 7 per cent; Japan, 4 per cent; and the rest of the world 3 per cent.
