To mark Riccardo Tisci's 10th anniversary at the helm of Givenchy, i-D caught up with the man himself to talk about his time there, his most recent collection and how "misunderstood" he is. That probably sounds facetious, but it isn't. By all accounts, Tisci is a pretty low-key individual and that doesn't match up with the reputation that critics and fans have put on him due to his extravagant, often gothic designs.
He says his overall vibes these days are inspired by the old Disney cartoon The Sword In The Stone, which sort of echoes his life as a fatherless, poor child growing up in northern Italy. He has every reason to be that introverted, gloomy personality but, "Everybody says I'm the king of darkness, the king of goth. But at the end of the day I'm quite a sweet dreamer. I'm obsessed with cartoons and romance" he says. Meanwhile, he's been at his current position for a decade now while other designers have moved around and hopped from gig to gig and he isn't down with that movement. He thinks designers should keep up with the times while finding themselves: "I see so much reproduction and copying of other people. Which is sad because you have the opportunity to really express yourself. You should let go and just look inside you and look in front of you. Don't look at what other people have done. Just find your imagination, your way of doing it. Be confident and let go."
You might not like the in your face nature of Givenchy's menswear, but you can't deny how Tisci has pushed the envelope on both the men's and women's sides of the aisle, and with his stalwart-like commitment to Givenchy, it doesn't look like he'll be going anywhere else anytime soon despite what all the rumors may say. We only hope his menswear continues to improve as it has over the past few seasons.
