When do you know you're in the final cut?
Only when you're ready and ready, responded Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren through a spring couture collection titled “Viktor & Rolf Scissorhands.”
“It has to do with the desire to always go further,” Horsting said backstage. Even when you reach 30 (and counting), staying relevant is about being irreverent and having a slightly punk attitude towards one's work.
“We wanted to create looks that are characteristic of Viktor & Rolf, whatever that may be, but not make them too sacred,” Snoeren said.
But they sure made holes in those pieces.
Each set of what they described as seven mini shows rather than a continuum of 28 looks began with a flawless take on silhouettes the design duo has explored over the years.
There was a regal coat made of duchess satin so thick that the collar stood up on its own; a demure square-neck dress with tiered ruffles; her suits and elegantly tailored dresses, including a sparkling tulle dress.
The transformations began easily enough with irregular shapes cut into the initial look, exposing a blush-toned structure underneath. In the third version, a ruffle had become a sculptural bolero, a minidress was all that was left of a suit, and that tulle dress surreally defied gravity.
On paper, this looks like it could have included a performance of them hacking and slashing in front of the audience. Not quite.
While they were “spontaneous and in the moment” in the bathrooms, listening to them explain the handmade process of turning these gestures into finished designs was fascinating.
As Horsting and Snoeren prepare for the February 23 debut of their exhibition “Viktor & Rolf: Fashion Statements” at the Kunsthalle München museum in Munich, Germany, this artful and precise exhibition was a reminder that they are a cut above the majority. .
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