Above: Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci Autumn/Winter 2012

The man who started it all is Riccardo Tisci, the fiercely private head of Givenchy, a famed recluse shrouded in mystery who routinely refuses to speak to the press. For Tisci, this dark, romantic mood is nothing new. He has been quietly advocating gothic beauty for years. Poster-boy for the new generation of designers, Tisci has now accomplished something never done before by a designer: he has embodied the mood of a season in scented form. His first fragrance, Dahlia Noir, is a piece of new-wave couture, an olfactory fabric to swathe a new generation of dark romantics in. He’s finally decided to talk – only to Stylist.

Tisci walks in smiling, dumps his rucksack on the floor and greets me with kisses on both cheeks. As he lights the first of five American Spirit cigarettes, the room becomes heavy with smoke. He sits back and fixes his gaze on me, eyes searching, exploring, paying attention. Where does the catwalk’s obsession with darkness comes from? “Black is always elegant. It is the most complete colour in the whole world, made of all the colours in the palette.” For Tisci, a woman wearing black is eternally sexy. “She is aristocratic, dark, sensual and romantic but it has been this way since I first started at Givenchy eight years ago. Back then, no-one understood. Now, you open any magazine and see gothic as a trend.” He was recently reduced to tears after his hero, perfumer Serge Lutens, said that Tisci was the only person who could do black since Coco Chanel. He sent Lutens flowers

Interview: Riccardo Tisci