Riccardo Tisci was born in 1974 in Cernusco sul Naviglio, north of Milan, the eighth child and only son of a working-class family; his father died when Tisci was five. He studied in Cantu, then at Central Saint Martins, graduating in 1999. In March 2005 LVMH appointed him creative director of Givenchy Women’s, at thirty. In October 2008 he was given Men’s and Couture in addition.

The Givenchy Years

Tisci’s twelve-year tenure re-established the house as culturally central after two decades of drift. Goth, Catholic, with rottweiler and doberman prints, religious iconography, and a deliberate intersection with American hip-hop. He dressed Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Madonna. His 2014 Kim Kardashian Vogue cover dress — a long-sleeve floor-length sheer black couture gown — is regularly cited as the decade’s most-reproduced red-carpet silhouette.

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Couture is the holy ghost. Streetwear is the body. — Riccardo Tisci

Burberry and Beyond

In March 2018 Burberry appointed Tisci chief creative officer. His four-year tenure produced a new monogram (the TB), uneven collections, and a mostly flat commercial arc. He departed in September 2022. His return to a major creative-director role has been speculated annually since.