Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists
In 2008, I was fortunate to witness one of the truly great fashion exhibitions. Held at the Barbican Art Gallery in London, within the iconic brutalist-style house estate, the ‘House of Viktor&Rolf’ took patrons into another world. Over 50 life-sized dolls were surrounded by miniature dolls, all wearing Viktor&Rolf couture. “By juxtaposing big and small, the regular size mannequins become more strange,” says Viktor Horsting. And each collection Horsting and Snoeren have designed since the brand’s inception in 1993, was beautifully captured on film, with illustrious guests/muses including Tilda Swinton, Tori Amos and Rufus Wainwright playing piano (selected by Viktor and Rolf for having a special mind-style, one that is unique and intelligent). Even after four hours of watching this fashion spectacle, it was difficult to leave. So when I heard Viktor&Rolf were opening a show at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Australia in October, my pulse quickened.
“Our upcoming exhibition at the NGV is a presentation of some of the highlights of our work, with an emphasis on the dramatic and the sculptural,” says Horsting. Included in this exhibition will be the Russian Doll collection. Presented during Paris Fashion Week, model Maggie Rizer was dressed in layers of couture that transformed her into the form of a Russian doll. Viktor&Rolf worked closely with curator Thierry-Maxime Loriot (who also curated the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition, which held at the NGV in 2015). “We wanted to showcase a special collection of our work as fashion artists: iconic, striking and sculptural, were key words for us. For us, haute couture has always been a laboratory of artistic expression, and with this exhibit, we wanted to show what that meant to us,” says Snoeren, who often finishes Horsting’s answers and vice versa.
The duo first met while studying fashion at the Arnhem Academy of Art & Design in The Netherlands. Even before graduating, they were already presently truly avant-garde work, moving to Paris in 1993, the same year they both graduated. And unlike most fashion designers, Viktor&Rolf go well beyond the boundaries of fashion, referring to what they call ‘autonomous pieces’, to express their visions. Their bedroom collection for Fall 2005 saw models walk down the runway with pillows appearing as oversized collars. The models tasseled locks were draped on the white pillows, almost reminiscent of the Raphaelite period: sublime to anyone with a love and true understanding of great fashion. Obviously, there were the critics who thought the dressing-gown look had gone too far. Of course the ideas are always translated to more wearable designs, with Viktor&Rolf establishing their Ready-to-Wear collection in 2006.
“It’s funny that we made a costume for a ballet by Bob Wilson with the same pillow idea, and the ballerina was just fine, so in a way it also worked on some practical level,” says Horsting. “But there are various ways of looking at fashion and art. Our approach to fashion may be considered unusual in that we utilise it as a means of artistic experimentation and self expression,” adds Snoeren, who feels a certain level of abstraction is needed. “Now that we are focusing on haute couture, we can emphasise this approach more than ever.”
While some designers start a collection by seeing a certain painting in a gallery or museum, or noticing how a certain person might be dressed in the street, for Viktor&Rolf, the starting point for a new collection is words. “We just start talking about what we would like to do and see what moves us. We are also very in tune with our surroundings,” says Snoeren, who lives with Horsting in a 17th century pile overlooking the canals in Amsterdam.
Like their fashion collections, their home beautifully combines artistic trompe l’eoil installations with period and contemporary furniture. “This (interior design) is an area of design that we have recently become more interested in. When we think about interior design, our thinking is the same as when it comes to fashion. Can fashion and interiors be sculpture? Can something ‘applied’ be an autonomous artwork?” asks Snoeren.
Even after decades of making the world take notice of their work, Viktor&Rolf still see their greatest challenge as the creation itself. “This constitutes an inner challenge. Anyone who is in the business of making something knows that sinking feeling when confronted with emptiness on the one hand and the inexplicable urge to fill it on the other,” says Horsting. Those attending the exhibition Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists at the NGV will certainly not witness any ‘emptiness’: just enormous fashion ideas that have been exquisitely executed by two of the world’s most talented designers.
Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists can be seen at the NGV in Australia from Friday 21 October 2016 until Sunday 26 February 2017.
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