Givenchy was acquired by the luxury conglomerate LVMH in 1988.
The purchase brought Hubert de Givenchy’s couture house into the expanding portfolio of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the luxury group formed in 1987. Givenchy had established his own house in Paris in 1952 and built its reputation through haute couture, elegant separates, accessories and perfumes.
The acquisition came while Hubert de Givenchy was still creatively leading the brand. It gave the company the financial and organizational support of a major luxury group while preserving Givenchy as a distinct fashion name. Hubert remained at the house until his retirement in 1995.
Readers sometimes encounter 1989 in biographies because the transaction and corporate restructuring are described differently, particularly when sources distinguish the fashion branch from the wider Givenchy business. For a question asking when Givenchy was acquired by LVMH, however, 1988 is the standard historical answer. The label subsequently passed through creative directors including John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Riccardo Tisci and Clare Waight Keller.