The list of great costume designer and movie star partnerships is a long one. From Adrian and Crawford to Travilla and Marilyn, there have been so many unforgettable costumes and characters immortalized on film. Within this list is a select few who not only created great looks on film, but who extended their partnership to impact the worlds of high fashion and ultimately world fashion.
Perhaps the prime example of such a partnership was that between actress Audrey Hepburn and designer Hubert de Givenchy. Across four decades and eight films, Hepburn was Givenchy’s greatest muse and together they created memorable looks that still influence film and fashion. In 1953, writer/director Billy Wilder sent Audrey on a trip to Paris to pick fashionable clothes for her character to wear in their upcoming film Sabrina (1954). Hepburn chose to visit Givenchy’s newly opened couture house and from then on, the two were devoted friends. Though Edith Head received her sixth Academy Award for the costume designs in Sabrina, it is now well understood that it is the uncredited Givenchy’s creations for Audrey that dominate the film.
By 1957’s Funny Face, the many clothes Audrey wore in the film were undeniably Givenchy’s. The film even contains a famous fashion montage of Hepburn wearing a variety of Givenchy’s clothes. He finally received his first on screen credit and his only Oscar nomination (both still shared with Edith Head).
For arguably their most famous collaboration, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Hepburn had it added to her contract that Givenchy design all her clothes. On paper the character of Holly Golightly, a Texas hillbilly turned Manhattan call girl, hardly seems like a good fit for the chic European flavored Hepburn & Givenchy partnership. After the film’s opening however, when we see Audrey emerge from a taxi in that sleek black dress, pearls and sunglasses hesitations are gone. Iconic.
Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy would regularly work together on film projects and public appearances and remained close friends until Hepburn’s death of cancer in 1993.
Hepburn herself best described the magic of their partnership. “His are the only clothes in which I am myself. He is far more than a couturier, he is a creator of personality.”
Another legendary star and designer partnership which transcended film and fashion, was between Liza Minnelli and Halston. While making her 1970 film, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, rising screen and stage star Minnelli was introduced by her godmother Kay Thompson to rising New York fashion designer Halston. The two immediately became close friends and for over two decades, Minnelli almost exclusively wore Halston’s creations.
While beginning work on her most famous performance as Sally Boles in Cabaret (1972), Liza quietly contacted Halston and confided how much she hated her clothes for the film. Though he went uncredited, Halston took over and created much of Liza’s now iconic looks for the film, including the pixie haircut she has now sported for decades.
Halston would also create some of Minnelli’s most memorable looks off screen. He designed Minnelli’s Oscar dress and not one, but TWO of her wedding dresses. For her part, Minnelli was a constant supporter of Halston’s, including headlining the famous Battle of Versailles Fashion Show of 1973. A personal relationship as well as professional, the two helped each other through many life struggles. After many wild nights at New York’s Studio 54, Minnelli entered treatment at the Betty Ford Center in 1984 and encouraged Halston to do the same. Minnelli has since described Halston as her “protector,” a brotherly and fatherly figure who reminded her very much of her father, director (and former costume designer) Vincente Minnelli.
Minnelli and Halston’s friendship and partnership lasted until his death from AIDS in 1990.
is written and talked about what wonderful films, filmmakers and stars came from the French New Wave. This golden age of cinema also saw the emergence of another of the great star and designer partnerships. In 1966, actress Catherine Deneuve chose a gown by Parisian designer Yves Saint Laurent as her dress to wear for her introduction to the Queen of England. She was so pleased with the result that she chose him to design her clothes for her next film, Belle De Jour (1967). This was a daunting task. Deneuve’s character of a bored housewife who turns to prostitution is almost a dual role with many different clothes in many different styles. Deneuve’s dramatic swings from prude to nymphomaniac are greatly helped by Saint Laurent’s innovative costume designs.
The two would work together again on four more films between 1968 and 1983 and in each Deneuve appears to be the epitome of the French fashions of the time.
Though they never worked together again after 1983’s The Hunger, Deneuve and Laurent remained friends until his death of brain cancer in 2008.
The genius of these designers and the power these stars had in inspiring that genius has created some of the most incredible costumes, in turn characters, in turn movies ever made. In wearing these designers, these stars gave some of their most memorable performances, and it is with these beloved talents wearing their clothes that these designers achieved a whole new level of artistic and commercial success.
