Disappointed.
Contrary to the book’s title, which promises a focus on fashion and how it relates to Hubert de Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn’s respective careers, this book, rather, focuses primarily on their filmography together—which is not to be confused with costume design.
I say this because a book on costume design would have discussed fashion as an avenue to enhance character and/or storyline. Author, Cindy De La Hoz cites herself as a “film and fashion buff” which is accurate, as what she is is a fan of film and fashion, not a qualified historian.
This book is divided into sections of films Hepburn and Givenchy worked on together. There is a section of only a few pages dedicated to Hepburn and Givenchy’s off screen collaboration… which I’d argue, is what would have made a purchase of this book worth it. If I wanted to see pictures of Givenchy’s costume design for Miss Hepburn I would have just watched their movies. The publishing of this book is utterly pointless, seeing that there is no insight given to the design decisions of Givenchy, and how his costuming helped to tell the story in various Audrey Hepburn movies.
Contrary to popular belief, fashion is not a shallow medium, however, De La Hoz’s interpretation of fashion is. There is so much to interpret from each of the Givenchy looks Audrey Hepburn wears in her respective films, but De La Hoz lacks total ability to interpret critically. All we get with this book is vapid commentary and Wikipedia esque context.