Kaia Gerber in Givenchy by Sarah Burton for W Magazine December 2025

Kaia Gerber in Givenchy by Sarah Burton for W Magazine December 2025 AOC Fashion

British designer Sarah Burton is totally honest, speaking with William Middleton for W Magazine [link] two days before her second showing as Givenchy’s creative director.

The interview is part of a Givenchy fashion story ‘Strength and Sensibility’ featuring Burton’s hand-picked, super-femme model and actor Kaia Gerber. Camilla Nickerson styles the fashion shoot lensed by Craig McDean [IG]./ Hair by Olivier Schawalder; makeup by Hiromi Ueda

In one of those life twists that leaves one speechless, Kaia signed on in November to play her mother Cindy Crawford opposite Homer Gere, son of Richard Gere. The new TV show ‘The Shards’ arrives 30 years after Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere's divorce and will play on the FX platform.

Female-Focused Empowerment at Givenchy

It’s not only her reality that Burton brings a “female-focused aura of empowerment” to Givenchy. Her candor comes at a time when patriarchal values in America are deeply embraced by most members of the Trump administration.

Burton’s view of gender is liberating, Middleton writes, while acknowledging the dearth of women designers still.

“When we think of how to empower a woman, she’s often put in a suit or something constructed, something male,” she says. “Instead, I was looking at female iconography and how it can be used to make a woman feel incredibly powerful. I wanted to look at sexuality and sensuality, revealing bits of the body in certain ways.”