Hamish Bowles on the Givenchy Fall 2011 Couture collection,

"Purity," intoned Riccardo Tisci, citing the inspiration for his contained but sublime collection of haute couture pieces for Givenchy that the ateliers have been working on for six months. "I try to find the light in the darkness," he continued. "Very pure and soft and fragile; a romantic dream." Tisci finds that "the most beautiful moment in couture is the first calico," and so he kept the palette in the palest beige, ivory, and white for the cottons used for those initial toiles. For Tisci, "white had become very strong - when women want to be sexy and romantic at the same time, white is there." - Vogue.com

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