Hubert de GIVENCHY supports his decorator friend, Janine Janet. 1956

Hubert de Givenchy (1927-2018)

Autographed letter signed to Janine Janet.

Two quarto pages. Stamped with the Janet collection.

No location. August 20, 1956.

Rare letter from the French couturier addressed to his great friend, the artist Janine Janet, decorator for Balenciaga and the house of Givenchy.

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"Dear Janine, don't be sad, and above all, have faith in your talent; you must feel very strong . I'm sure that if you can realize your projects, it will be wonderful, but it's often difficult, especially with the people around you. I'm very happy about your trip and eagerly await the evening when you tell me about the wonders you've discovered in this beautiful country. Lots of love. Don't forget me with Jean-Claude. See you soon. Hubert."

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In the preface to the catalogue of the exhibition entitled "Janine Janet, Metamorphoses" which was held at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in 2003, Hubert de Givenchy evokes his relationship with Janine Janet and Balenciaga:

“I had the pleasure of meeting Janine Janet, thanks to Mr. Balenciaga […]. The man I have always considered my mentor, since our meeting in 1953, was then beginning a fruitful collaboration with the artist. Wishing to emphasize the exclusive and refined character of his fashion house, Cristóbal Balenciaga did not want commercial objects displayed in his windows on Avenue George V. He therefore entrusted Janine Janet with the task of arranging them as he saw fit, with the sole constraint being that they must offer a visual equivalent to the luxury of the collections. For nearly fifteen years, Janine displayed a wealth of imagination to renew her window displays. These displays were magnificent! Full of invention and whimsy. Each time they were updated, it was a source of wonder. And, quite often, they drew crowds in front of the Balenciaga store to admire them.” Where most decorators were content with ephemeral installations, Janine Janet conceived veritable sculptures, requiring immense labor. I particularly remember those whimsical figures, The Perfumer, The Couturier, and The Milliner, made with accessories corresponding to their respective professions. But there were also those astonishing figures of seashells, those women of straw and reed, those strange busts bristling with nails, and many other creations that graced Avenue George V. In turn, on a more modest scale, I commissioned a few works from Janine. This is how she came to design magnificent horses for the interior windows of my fashion house. The product of prodigious skill, they were entirely covered in passementerie. Another time, there were golden sphinxes with disproportionately long necks, distant heirs to the fantasies of the 18th century. Passionate about metamorphosis, the interplay of transposition that allows one to evoke one material with another, to suggest an element from the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms by borrowing from others, she created other things for me: a rooster whose body was made entirely of immense parrot tulips, or baskets of flowers with petals and corollas formed from colored stones. Finally, there were those two extraordinary busts, one in red coral and the other in jet and amethyst, which I wanted to keep in my country house. I loved watching Janine work. Her enthusiasm was astonishing, tireless; she could have worked day and night without stopping […]”.