Early last year Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren announced that they would be exiting the ready-to-wear business to focus on haute couture. For their first couture show after the announcement models walked out in front of a stark white wall, wearing dramatically constructed dresses that looked to be made from canvas, wooden framing, paint-spattered denim and, as the show progressed, prints that recalled centuries-old portraits and still lifes.
It was a sensation, and it reminded the fashion world what creativity looks like when designers are allowed the time.
For Spring 2016 the designers looked towards the Navajo totem poles for inspiration. Traditionally the carvings symbolize or commemorate cultural beliefs that recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events. Viktor & Rolf’s totem gowns symbolized the surrealist art works of cubism.
The walking sculptures laser-cut etchings were broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form. And instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint the artist depicted the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context, as individual silhouettes that morphed from tubular to square to jutting, depending on the angle from which they were viewed.
The addition of bows and stiff ruffles served to create a feminine mood and heighten the overall charm of the collection.
We can’t wait to see what’s next.
The Fashion Plate Magazine 