After the hustle and bustle of fashion week season, things have yet to calm down. New designers need to be followed on Instagram, new trends need to be analysed, internalised and added to our closets, and viral show moments are to be added to our list of ‘highlights’ of the season, at times overshadowing the very collections that graced the runway. The aftermath of fashion week continues to captivate, ensuring that the industry’s pulse keeps beating long after the last model has left the catwalk. Maison Margiela impressed with glass skin, which took over the entire news cycle for about a week, its new collection casted to the background. Diesel stunted with a 24-hour livestream of the behind-the-scenes at their Milan Fashion Week show, that and the vast number of influencers on their front row. Their collection didn’t make my Instagram explore feed. Lately, a “fashion statement” prioritises overstating absurd ideas or pop-culture phenomena over the craftsmanship, design, or narrative of the collection. The emphasis is on becoming a gimmick to garner attention and secure a spot on the front page.
If there’s one fashion house that doesn’t rely on sheer virality, it’s Viktor&Rolf. Instead, the designer duo plays with the notion of humour and oddity to portray an (often times political) statement that is synchronised beautifully with the designs that hit their runway. To honour the Dutch design duo, its heritage and its brilliant show during Paris Haute Couture Week, we dive into its latest exhibition ‘Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements’, which is currently unfolding at the Kunsthalle München museum in Munich.
‘Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements’ is a ground-breaking exhibition dedicated to the avant-garde creations of Dutch fashion maestros Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, boasting a staggering collection of over 100 of their most audacious designs. Running until the 6th of October, the exhibition stands as the first major retrospective on the duo in Germany. Meticulously curated by the Kunsthalle München in collaboration with Canadian curator Thierry Maxime Loriot, the exhibition promises an immersive exploration into the passions, obsessions, and singular vision that define Viktor&Rolf.
Apart from showcasing the pair’s rise within the industry, exploring the duo’s roots, the exhibition also contains pieces that attracted global attention; the vampire-like constructions of their SS22 collection, the brightly coloured tulle frocks adorned with in-your-face captions of their Spring ’19 couture show and the classical ballgowns that took a bizarre turn on the catwalk of their SS23 collection. As some items belong to the designers’ private collections, a lot of them make their public debut in this exhibition.
Along with numerous videos, sketches and the Viktor&Rolf fragrances Flowerbomb and Spicebomb, the exhibition has a collection of miniature porcelain dolls dressed in the designers’ iconic creations which were handcrafted after each season. Accommodating the work of the designer duo, are some works by renowned visual artists like Andreas Gursky, Ellen von Unwerth and Herb Ritts, and Inez&Vinoodh. Gathering a vast amount of diverse artistic expressions, the designers created throughout the years, ‘Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements’ promises a feast for the senses, making the event one of the most eagerly anticipated exhibitions of the year.
