Audrey Hepburn’s appeal never seems to dim, and a new biography about the late Oscar-winning actress is further proof of that.
Tom Santopietro’s just-out “Audrey Hepburn: A Life of Beautiful Uncertainty” offers rarely shared details, photos and vignettes about her life and not just during the Hollywood era. The waifish beauty also was a World War II resistance activist and unwavering UNICEF supporter. The Rowman & Littlefield tome also features a good dose of fashion, thanks to the designer Jeffrey Banks.
Having known Hepburn as a friend, Banks said he had never wanted to write a book about the highly private actress. But after being approached by Santopietro to serve up some fashion insights for the new biography and helped choose relevant photos, he agreed to it. There are 70 photos including high fashion ones with captions by Banks. New York-based designer first met Hepburn in May 1982, when the Fashion institute of Technology hosted a dinner dance in honor of Hubert de Givenchy’s 30th year in business. Having worn Givenchy ensembles for such films as “Sabrina,” “Funny Face,” “Love in the Afternoon,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Charade” and “Love Among Thieves,” the actress was said to be such a devotee that she had favored his fragrance too.
Banks’ first encounter with Hepburn at the black tie affair in New York City was not by chance. Months in advance, Banks — who was on FIT’s board of trustees at that time — bought the table that was right next to the head one where Hepburn was to be seated. His strategic approach included rounding up a group of well-dressed guests and stashing a bouquet of red roses under the table. “One would call it a ‘bouquet,’ but it was more like a small bush of roses,” Banks said on Monday in an interview, adding that the Givenchy executive, who oversaw its North American division at that time, introduced him to the actress — with roses in hand.
As for the Hepburn and Givenchy connection, Banks recalled how the actress had suggested to director Billy Wilder that she travel to Paris to choose a wardrobe for “Sabrina,” since the “Sabrina Fairchild” character, the daughter of a chauffeur, that she was portraying had spent time there. Having heard that Givenchy was an up-and-coming couturiere, she arranged to pay him a visit in Paris. The designer presumed that “Miss Hepburn” would be the more established actress Katharine Hepburn, but was “enchanted” just the same, Banks said.
The cover of the new Audrey Hepburn biography.
Photo Courtesy
For Santopietro’s book, the plan was to choose a signature look for each chapter. Banks noted how Hepburn wore a few Givenchy designs in her breakout role in the 1954 film “Sabrina,” including the strapless white silk organza gown that she was photographed in that is on the book’s cover. (Ivanka Trump was so enamored with the design that she wore a haute couture replica of the Givenchy dress to the presidential inaugural balls in January.)
Banks also recalled how Hepburn had invited Givenchy to the film’s premiere, but as they sat in the dark watching the credits roll, only Paramount Pictures’ costume designer Edith Head was credited. “Mortified,” Hepburn then made it point to have it written into her contract that Givenchy would be credited with any future work, said Banks, who added that Head also had won an Oscar for costume design for “Sabrina.”
Noting how “Funny Face” is a favorite with the fashion crowd including himself, Banks said, “It has everything — Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, [George] Gershwin music, Paris, [the lead male character’s inspiration Richard] Avedon and Givenchy.” Hepburn once explained that Givenchy’s clothes were like “armour,” and made her feel that she could do anything on the screen, according to Banks.
Well aware of how Hepburn remains a style setter more than 32 years after her death, Banks cited how she ushered in such lasting classics as the little black dress, ballet flats and pearls. All of these things are in the fashion lexicon because Audrey wore them first, Banks said. “And women have never stopped wearing them.”
Santopietro said that Hepburn’s self-deprecation was genuine. “She did not think she was particularly attractive, and she really made light of her extraordinary acting abilities. She was like, ‘Oh well, I’m not trained. I’m not very beautiful.’ To an extent, that was what she felt as a child,” he said.
What’s more important, the author said, was that her fame was only of interest to her, if it was used on behalf of UNICEF. By her own account she was not interested in being a glamorous film star, Santopietro said, “What I discovered was that at the end of her life, she, and Elizabeth Taylor, separately, used the exact same phrase, which was, ‘At last, my fame makes sense to me.’ Elizabeth said it about her AIDS activism and Audrey said it about UNICEF.”
