THE MUSE AND THE MASTER

By Martha Duffy

For a lifelong love affair, it didn't start well. When the young designer, scrambling to finish a collection in 1954, was told that an actress named Hepburn was calling to see him, he assumed it was Katharine. The ingenue from Hollywood had wanted her costumes for Sabrina to be made by Paris' reigning couturier, Cristobal Balenciaga, but the great man turned her away. The rejected muse then turned to another, younger designer, and it was rare affection at first sight. Eventually she called him her greatest friend, almost like a psychiatrist. He referred to her as a sister. Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy.

You can almost see them today as benevolent ghosts strolling along most of the world's runways. Hepburn died in 1993. In March, Givenchy showed his final fall collection in Paris before retiring. The collection was both meticulous and harmonious, reflecting the standards of luxe and craft he has always pursued. Many of 1995's fashion heroes, including Lagerfeld and Versace, took their inspiration from Givenchy. Stung by the consequences of forays into ugliness, they turned to a designer who has always brought grace and charm alive.

He came from a noble French family and, like many in his craft, knew as a child he wanted to be a designer. His atelier is on the Avenue George V, and it is his kingdom. His staff members are devoted to him and rarely leave his employ. On weekends he retreats to his 17th century chAteau near Chartres and gardens on a grand scale. He makes the rounds of his clients' weddings and christenings, for they are friends too. These women are concerned with details most people have not dreamt of: the sleeve, the lace, the length of the train. One trait he and Hepburn had in common was their intense concentration on perfection. They could learn more from the mirror than common eyesight could perceive.

But the world of perfection, like the world of manners, is vanishing. "Now," says Givenchy, "when a woman makes an effort to look lovely when she entertains, it's difficult for her. Some of her guests will come wearing trousers with a blouse or sweater. So the question becomes, 'I want to entertain, but what will I wear?'" What indeed, when her friends don't recognize a masterpiece when they see one.

He has some nostalgia for the great days. Of Hepburn he says, "She gave the most to fashion because of her beauty and personality." It amuses him that now both young girls and mothers of brides-to-be ask him to create a gown that will make them look like Hepburn. His eye strays to his studio, and it is as if he sees her there, "that marvelous face and those strong little shoulders."

He is angry about the circumstances of his retirement. LVMH, the conglomerate that owns Givenchy as well as Dior, Lacroix and other luxury houses, was late with an offer to extend his contract, and then it was only for two couture collections each year. "I told them that the future of my business is in ready-to-wear. I think it is an insult." Marc Audibet and John Galliano are among those rumored as replacements. Stronger rumors say that LVMH wants Givenchy back, but he says it is too late.

Anyway, he has other plans in place, including putting together a definitive retrospective in Paris of his mentor, Balenciaga, scheduled for 1998. And he has another project that seems to suit his temperament at least as well: redesigning Louis XIV's 6-hectare vegetable garden at Versailles. --With reportingby Dorie Denbigh/Paris

With reporting by Dorie Denbigh/Paris