The idea of friendship between people, countries, cultures, and individuals is celebrated internationally, inspiring peace efforts and building bridges between communities. But, have you ever thought about strong fashion friendships in the industry?
The fashion industry is filled with unique friendships from all over the world. In this article, we will be featuring 8 of the most iconic fashion friendships from the industry. We are honoring fashion friendships from all over the global fashion industry. What fashion friendships do you cherish the most in the fashion industry? Let us know!
Fashion Friendships: Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé
Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent were longtime lovers and business partners of Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. The two met during a dinner at the Cloche d’Or organized by the French Harper’s Bazar magazine.
Saint Laurent is credited for revolutionizing fashion during the 20th century with his creative designs and wild imagination. In 1953, he entered his sketches in a contest for young fashion designers and won first place. He was sent off to Christian Dior by Michel de Brunhoff (Editor-In-Chief of Vogue Paris) who recognized his talent immediately and realized similarities between him and Dior, who hired him on the spot. In 1957, Saint Laurent found himself as the head of the brand at the House of Dior, only at age 21 after Dior’s death.
In 1960, Saint Laurent was called up for French military service and suffered mental health issues, was hospitalized and received news that he was fired from Dior. Bergé and Saint Laurent sued Dior in 1960 for breach of contract and won. Pierre Berge and Saint Laurent started their own fashion house in 1961. The couple split romantically in 1976 but remained business partners. Saint Laurent Rive Gauche is most known for its affordable but exquisite quality ready-to-wear collection of basics, which was designed by the dynamic duo.
Fashion Friendships: Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti
Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani and Italian businessman Giancarlo Giammetti founded the Valentino fashion house in the early 1960s. They also shared a romantic relationship that lasted for twelve years and ended in 1972.
In addition, with the help of Giancarlo Giammetti whose wealthy family founded the company, Valentino’s namesake brand Valentino Garavani became a global success. Garavani is most known for his bright red dresses now known as “Valentino Red.” He worked at Balenciaga and was an apprentice at Guy Laroche for five years. Garavani was the mastermind of creating elegant garments, while Giammetti was the powerhouse businessman that made Valentino successful. Giammetti is considered the Honorary President of Valentino. The duo retired from Valentino in early 2008.
Fashion Friendships: Hubert De Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn
Most known for her iconic role as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Audrey Hepburn and famous French designer Hubert De Givenchy were beloved in the fashion industry. The iconic Givenchy “little black dress” Hepburn wore in the opening scenes of the film was designed by the man himself.
Today, the black satin evening dress Givenchy gave her all those years ago, known as the décolleté Sabrina, is considered one of history’s most iconic pieces of clothing. Hepburn’s little black dress is imitated all over the world. The little black dress is considered a staple item in every woman’s wardrobe.
You can see many fans standing in front of the Fifth Ave flagship Tiffany’s store in New York City wearing their little black dresses eating croissants, just like Hepburn did in the film. Furthermore, Hepburn and Givenchy had a memorable friendship throughout Hepburn’s career in film, in which she exclusively only wore Givenchy’s designs.
Givenchy was the creator and Hepburn was his muse. Their fashionable friendship lasted for 40 years up until Hepburn passed away in 1993.
“It was Hubert de Givenchy who gave me a look, a genre, a silhouette. Dressed by him, I’m not afraid of anything.” – Audrey Hepburn
Fashion Friendships: Alessandro Michele and Jared Leto
Jared Leto from Thirty Seconds to Mars and Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele ultimately changed the fashion world together.
Michele started as Gucci’s new creative director in 2015. In his direction, Michele completely changed the entire brand. This era of Gucci has become one of the most iconic periods in the brand’s legacy. His reimagined concept of gender fashion made the brand become more celebratory of self-expression without having to succumb to the notions of femininity and masculinity.
Different from Michele’s predecessor, Tom Ford – Michele welcomed Leto as one of his muses for Gucci. Leto became a true fashion icon through Michele’s fashionable and unique looks. Ultimately became a long-standing member of the Gucci family. Leto has appeared in his first ad campaign for Gucci Guilty in 2016. From that moment on he went on to be the face of more Gucci perfumes down the line.
“We’re both very creative people and felt pretty comfortable with each other very quickly. The thing about Alessandro is that he lacks any pretense, he’s humble, grateful, and kind as well as confident and bold. It’s easy to like him. We have a lot of fun together” – Jared Leto
At the 2019 camp-themed Met Gala, Michele and Leto created one of the most memorable moments on the Met Gala red carpet. Leto wore a red satin dress decorated with a jeweled body chain, as well as carrying a wax model of his own head. Talk about turning heads right?
Leto not only wears Gucci to red carpet events, but he also wears Gucci when he is touring with his band 30 Seconds to Mars. Michele, who created a variety of new performance outfits, did the styling.
Fashion Friendships: Kanye West and Virgil Abloh
Kanye West and Virgil Abloh was influential friends in the fashion industry since 2007. When the pair met, that was the start of their collaborative friendship. They both interned at Fendi in Rome, Italy. During the late 2000s, West and Abloh attended many fashion shows together. Then, they noticed a lack of streetwear on the runways. Both West and Abloh share the same home state of Illinois.
Abloh was an American designer and entrepreneur. He was the artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear since March 2018. He was also CEO of fashion house “Off-White”. West is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, businessman, fashion designer. West is one of the most influential people in the 21st century in hip hop and streetwear.
The two have tremendous creative and artistic visions that make them unique in the world of fashion. West appointed Abloh to be the creative director of West’s creative agency, DONDA in 2011, and also asked him to be the artistic director of Watch the Throne, an album with Jay-Z. The two definitely have made a huge impact in the fashion industry. They also conquered streetwear in the world of high-end fashion.
Fashion Friendships: Stella McCartney and Taylor Swift
During Swift’s release of her albums Lover, Folklore, and Evermore, the world learned of the long-time friendship with Stella McCartney. The pair are long-time friends who collaborated on Stella x Taylor merchandise in support of her 2019 album, Lover. The long-time friends have helped each other along the way in terms of fashion and pop culture. Swift mentions McCartney in one of her songs, London Boy. The playful lyrics: “Stick with me, I’m your queen like a Stella McCartney on the Heath.”
McCartney and Swift have been in collaboration with each other for many projects. McCartney created sustainable and eco-friendly garments for Swift to wear, notably during the CMA award show. Swift wore Stella McCartney head to toe. She has been on stage singing her hit song, Betty on a maroon sequin turtleneck, khaki pants, and black strappy sandals.
For both of Swift’s secret albums, Folklore, and Evermore, Swift turned to the British designer for assistance to style clothing, two albums that mark the beginning of her “new era.” Swift’s plaid coat on the cover of Evermore, designed by McCartney Swift, sold out just hours after the publication of the album.
Social Media
McCartney explained on Instagram of her collaboration with Swift, “When a friend comes to you, explaining she needs help styling and finding pieces to reflect her new secret project, it’s a precious gift..everything happened so naturally; the pieces I made reflected the effortless emotionality of her album.”
Swift took to Instagram live to gush over the words of appreciation for Stella. Swift is alson on Youtube thanking McCartney for creating, “One-off sustainable pieces designed just for her.”
Instagram Live Video Swift reportedly said, “She’s been a friend for a long time and also just a woman that I respect so much. I respect what she creates, how she creates it”
Fashion Friendships: Blake Lively and Christian Louboutin
Gossip Girl superstar Blake Lively and iconic shoe master Christian Louboutin have the most incredible fashion friendship. Lively who is most known for her role in Gossip Girl as Serena van der Woodsen is a style icon of the 2010s.
Summing up, in the world of fashion, Lively is most known for her amazing outfits. One thing you will see her wear is her Christian Louboutin heels. Lively is such a huge fan of the luxury shoe brand, that Louboutin himself gifted the actress his entire 2012 Spring collection.
In 2011, Lively and Louboutin used to go out shopping together in Paris where they had lunch, shopped, and went on a Vespa tour of France together.
”I went to Louboutin’s atelier and I was walking around, like every shoe here is so beautiful and I saw this one pair and I said: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it,'” “He said: ‘Do you love it?’ I said: ‘I want to sleep with it under my pillow every night and he said: ‘We’re naming it the Blake then.’ It was insane. It’s like my greatest accomplishment.” – Blake Lively
Lively and Louboutin even attended the Met Gala together in 2019. Where Lively wore a gorgeous burgundy and gold custom Versace gown, with matching Louboutin peep-toe high heels. Louboutin designed two pairs of shoes for Lively to wear before and during the event. Louboutin accompanied Lively to the event wearing a matching burgundy coat adorned with a similar gold detailing to the dress.
Fashion Friendships: Kylie Jenner and Olivier Rousteing
Founder of Kylie Cosmetics and a Kardashian-Jenner family member, Kylie Jenner is no stranger to French luxury fashion house Balmain or Olivier Rousteing.
Rousteing became the creative director of Balmain in 2011, only at the age of 24. One of the youngest creative directors in the fashion industry, he has mastered the art of social media and catering to a digital generation.
Kylie Jenner needs no introduction. That’s because she is one of the most influential American media personalities and businesswomen. Jenner has amassed a large social media following on all of her social media platforms. Time Magazine’s named her as the Most Influential Teens in 2015.
Rousteing is a family friend to the Kardashian-Jenner family, as the family dresses from head to toe in Balmain every time they go to Paris. In regards to his relationship with Kylie, from shooting Balmain ad campaigns to supporting Rousteing at events and wearing his designs on red carpet events, it is evident that they have a strong collaborative friendship.
In 2019, the two even collaborated on a Kylie Cosmetics x Balmain makeup capsule collection. Paris Fashion Week featured it for its Spring 2020 Runway show. Jenner overlooked the makeup portion of the show that included lip kits, high glosses, and the Balmain Kyshadow Palette. Unfortunately, the mogul fell ill with flu-like symptoms and could not attend the fashion show, according to her Twitter update.
Fashion Friendships: Rosé and Anthony Vaccarello
In 2019, Saint Laurent Paris creative designer Anthony Vaccarello invited BLACKPINK’s Rosé to Paris, and she met him at a Saint Laurent fashion show. “She’s the future Saint Laurent girl. It’s about the way she lives, the way she runs her own fashion, and the way she breaks free from the crowd”, he said for W Korea. In that way, he chose her as a global ambassador for the brand.
Rosé said in a 2020 interview with French journalist Loïc Prigent: “[Anthony] is very soft and kind and calm, and he keeps me calm because I get nervous sometimes. I love him.” Also, the singer shone on the red carpet of the MET Gala in the year 2021, next to the designer.
Rosé also said that to W Korea that she keeps in close contact with the designer and seeks to be his inspirational muse. The relationship seems to work well. She fits in this position because she is confident and independent and that is everything for Saint Laurent women, according to Vaccarello.
The Benefit of Fashion Collabs and Branding
As you can see, fashion friendships are for sure about strategic collaborations too. The possibility of increasing your brand’s visibility and getting more sales is even greater with a collab.
Furthermore, it is possible to join forces between your brand and an artist, for example, which can make your product or service better known in the market.
In other words, fashion friendship is a creative and efficient collaboration. In addition, they are an attractive way for some companies to enter a different universe.
To sum up, how are you celebrating International Friendship day? Don’t forget to check our previous article about how Public Relations can change your life and your business.
