"Furniture like objects should be caressed, looked at and loved", said the couturier.

His collection of more than 1,200 lots will be exhibited from June 10 to 14 in the salons of Christie's in Paris.

Around 800 "flagship" lots will be offered for auction during four physical sales at the Marigny theater and then at Christie's from June 14 to 17.

An online sale of 400 smaller lots is scheduled from June 8 to 23, the auction house told AFP.

In Paris, the general public will be able to discover all the treasures that accompanied the couturier, who died in 2018, on a daily basis in his Parisian mansion, where he lived with his companion Philippe Venet.

Both shared his passion for collecting furniture and works of art for years.

Estimated at 50 million euros, its collection contains some 200 paintings by old and modern masters, around a hundred sculptures, French and European furniture and numerous decorative objects.

It "does not include clothes, but reflects the haute couture legend's passion for the fabrics and fabrics that dress his sofas and armchairs and which are also reflected in two fabrics painted by the artist Claudio Bravo", according to Christie's.

A passionate esthete, deeply rooted in French culture, the couturier saw his passion for art, decoration and gardens as an extension of his work as a couturier with green, gold, white and black as his favorite colors. .

Born in Beauvais into an aristocratic family of Venetian origin, the couturier grew up with a great-grandfather who was a set designer for the Paris Opera and a grandfather who was an administrator of the Beauvais tapestry factory, also a great collector.

One of his first acquisitions was a Régence console from the collection of Coco Chanel, who received him for dinner.

French couturier Hubert de Givenchy in the offices of his fashion house in Paris in July 1995 GERARD FOUET AFP/Archives

Through her, he discovered the collection of José Maria and Misia Sert, a couple of artists from whom he acquired another rare Italian neoclassical console.

The sale includes, among other things, a vase probably acquired by the King of Naples around 1780 as well as a set of Regency period vases and a baroque bronze incense burner from Augsburg.

From fashion to decoration, the collection reflects the unique approach of the man who dressed Jackie Kennedy and actress Audrey Hepburn, his muse and confidante.

© 2022 AFP