Couture is a ultra-rarefied realm – though there is no official number, there are only approximately 4,000 customers worldwide of fashion’s highest offering. Despite the typically nose-bleeding prices couture commands (it starts from 5 figures and onwards), the department isn’t really a money spinner for the houses that do offer it – it exists for artistic expression, prestige and basically, to feed a dream.

In that sense, couture is a bit of an outlier in today’s disruptive, democratic-everything culture with its exclusivity and secrecy-shrouded MO. Clare Waight Keller at Givenchy is looking to change that with Givenchy Atelier, a new men’s and women’s capsule collection launched this week that translates couture techniques into readily available apparel and accessories.

We don’t have official word yet on what these couture techniques are exactly but fans of the house will surely note the re-appearance of familiar pieces such as the elevated backpacks with an oversized bow that first surfaced at Givenchy’s S/S’19 couture show, which left quite the impression (we don’t usually see something as utilitarian as a backpack at the couture shows).

As you would expect, the Givenchy Atelier collection offers more readily accessible versions of designs that have appeared in the house’s couture shows – for example, the backpack is made of nylon and the bow has been rendered smaller. All Givenchy Atelier accessories bear a label with founder Hubert de Givenchy’s hand-signature underscored in red – a sweet reference to the way he signed his fashion sketches.

Ready-to-wear sees the usual streetwear staples such as T-shirts and sweaters but we’re really more interested in the sleek tailoring and contemporary evening pieces that have become a signature of  Givenchy under Clare Waight Keller. (P.S: images above only depict a portion of the collection.)

Note: if you’re looking to get your hands on this capsule collection, it’s only available at selected Givenchy boutiques – in Singapore, it’s available at both the Paragon and Marina Bay Sands stores.