Givenchy Spring 2027 Does Subversive Shapes Through the Female Gaze

At Givenchy’s spring/summer 2027 show in Paris this evening, the coats were big, the dresses were sculptural, and the shapes were slightly surreal. There were biker-style leather leotards and skirts cut high in the front and long on the sides. Pinstripe suits were tailored, the front crisscrossed, and the sleeves became an extension of the form, overlapping the torso, rather than just a function. “I wanted a sense of balance and clarity,” creative director Sarah Burton is quoted in the show notes. “A wardrobe to bring precision and simplicity to dressing as we speed through the multiple perspectives and perpetual motion of all our lives.”

Accessories were important in this collection, but in an unconventional way. Burton delivered a plethora of quirky, wearable accessories like large tassel necklaces, knotted leather belts in shades of cobalt, and monumental necklaces that looked like metal bangles had been strung together on a bright, knotted cord. Bob Mackie-esque beaded dresses worthy of Tina Turner had their own accoutrements. A slinky black beaded fringe slip dress was styled with matching cuff bracelets. The same beaded fringe effect later appeared on mini moon-shaped minaudières in shades of chartreuse.

Elsewhere, in some cases, the garments and jewelry started to transcend and blend together. Lightly pleated strapless maxi gowns in shades of baby pink and cobalt blue were turned into art with twisted golden metal appendages in place of sleeves. Hulking puffy hoop earrings almost touched the cropped wrap tops covered in painterly florals that came in their own abstract forms that stretched above and outward away from the shoulders.

As one of the few women designers leading a major fashion house in Paris, Sarah Burton often favors shapes with a little bit of a subversive edge. Her designs are distinctively her own at this point, with a little bit of the editorial lens she developed when she was at McQueen. Who else could send a silky black vest with a reworked pattern that slightly resembles a butterfly down the runway in the same way she does?

And yet, at a time when bodycon is king, Burton’s work feels like a small rebellion, even if it’s not to everyone’s taste. Dresses with supersized, structural peplums bloomed with sheer frills of fabric, and even the trousers were extended with excess, making it almost look as if there were multiple pairs of pants hanging off the sides.

One of the finale looks consisted of an over-the-top, extremely oversize pale silky pink kimono-style robe covered in embroidery and worn over a transparent slip. With gemmy earrings that touched the collarbones and electric blue sweeps of cat-shaped eye shadow, everything about the look says it was designed by a woman. There’s something to be said about fashion that takes up space, especially right now.