Little Red Village

Jonathan Joseph and Rachel Elspeth Gross interview Henry Wilkinson to discuss the process of restoring a 1960's Givenchy dress that was worn by Lee Radziwill and Jackie O.

Henry is a fashion historian who specializes in Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn. He's got this habit of finding, acquiring and then bringing back to life pieces from the house but of stories which might rival the women who wore them.

Henry distinctly remembers as a child, being gifted physical copies of the classic films My Fair Lady and Breakfast at Tiffany's. For Henry, his early love of fashion is permanently entwined with Hepburn and Givenchy, although he will admit to a certain amount of Cecil Beaton 's influence. 

Two weeks into lockdown in the United Kingdom, Henry found to borrow his words, a tangible link to the Past, not many of us could see a listing for an early 1960s, Givenchy bodice plus maybe five inches of skirt and see something special but Henry did. Now he's completed the process of restoring what has turned out to be a significant one of a kind piece from more than 60 years ago. If that's not enough to impress you. After a ton of research, it turns out that the dress had originally been owned and worn by Lee Radziwill & Jackie O.