Fashion: Dean of Design, Givenchy, Passes On At 91

French fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, an aristocrat who founded the house of

Givenchy in the 1950s, becoming famous for dressing the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Grace Kelly, has died at the age of 91, the Givenchy label said Monday.

A commanding presence in fashion from the moment he presented his first collection in Paris at the age of 24, Givenchy became synonymous with elegance and an insouciant glamor. He designed the black dress Audrey Hepburn wore in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”

His family — his father was the marquis of Givenchy — had hoped their son would become a lawyer, but the young man, who stood 6 feet 5 inches tall, was drawn to fashion and design from a young age, moving to Paris to study at 17.

His hallmark creations, including balloon-sleeved blouses and calf-length trousers with flared hems, were hailed in their time as airy alternatives to the tight waists and artificial curves of the then-dominant “New Look” of Christian Dior.