Givenchy and its celebration of the female gaze

CONTRIBUTED

When Givenchy creative director Sarah Burton debuted her first collection in March since being appointed to head the French luxury fashion house in late 2024, the reaction was swift—and perhaps predictably positive.

Not only did fashion media laud Burton’s fresh silhouettes, sharp tailoring, and compelling homage to history but also her intent to “address everything about the modern women.”

And by that, it also means designing clothes for all shapes and sizes—a statement that was felt in her decision to cast models such as Devyn Garcia and Emeline Hoareau. It also felt right that Burton got off on this foot at Givenchy because it sets the tone for her succeeding collections and the fashion industry in general, where female designers are few and far between.

Her latest campaign for Givenchy just this June settles into similar territories and paints her point of view from a different angle. Starring American model and actress Kaia Gerber and Dutch actress, writer, and film director Halina Reijn, the series of photos—directed by Reijn herself—sees Gerber clad in clean, crisp looks. Bold jackets in black and beige, a sexy shift dress in red, logo loafers, and a white strapless babydoll paired with gold heels.

But the attitude is youthful, as if Gerber the actress is signaling a desire to grasp the experience of Reijn the director. A young actress under the mentorship of a female director who sees her promise, potential, and possibilities.

In a video on Instagram, the two connect in ways that are beyond the physical connection they portray on screen (though that forehead to forehead moment was quite lovely). Reijn isn’t just teaching her how to spin, twirl, do a pirouette, create angles, or foster a relationship with her body, she’s also passing on to Gerber a kind of connection that is unique among women—one that exists from the passage of girlhood to womanhood, and eventually to motherhood.

And she does all the choreography and cinematography in a way that is sublimely feminine and stripped of any masculine desires.

“Kaia Gerber and Halina Reijn captured something I love about how creative women collaborate,” says Burton. “The idea behind my first campaign for Givenchy was to focus on the friendship between a film director and an actor. I wanted it to celebrate the female gaze.”

This is female storytelling at its finest.