Viktor & Rolf

Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren first met while studying at the Arnhem Academy of Art and Design in 1988.

Upon graduation in 1992, the pair began working together and relocated to Paris.

Initially, Viktor & Rolf were shunned by the fashion industry, however, the designers were received well by the art world.

Art institutions such as the Groninger Museum began to acquire garments from the designers.

Initial collections established the extravagant silhouettes, witty use of materials and irreverent concepts the designers would come to be known for.

Viktor & Rolf is a Dutch avant-garde luxury fashion house founded in 1993 by Viktor Horsting (born 1969, Geldrop) and Rolf Snoeren (born 1969, Dongen).

For more than twenty years, Viktor & Rolf have sought to challenge preconceptions of fashion and bridge the divide between fashion and art.

Viktor & Rolf have designed both haute couture and ready-to-wear collections.

The duo is renowned for their avant-garde designs, which rely heavily on theatrical and performative fashion runways.

In 2000, Viktor & Rolf launched their company logo of a wax seal bearing the monogram V&R, and began to devote their artistic talent to ready-to-wear collections.

In 2003, the designers launched a menswear collection which co-existed alongside the women's line until 2009.

Viktor & Rolf also created perfumes; the female fragrances Flowerbomb (2004) and Bonbon (2014), along and the male fragrances Antidote (2006) and Spicebomb (2012).

After a thirteen-year hiatus from creating haute couture, Viktor & Rolf re-established themselves as with the Zen Garden (Autumn/Winter 2013–14) collection.

Below are small summaries of Viktor & Rolf's most recent haute couture designs.

Bonbon (Spring/Summer 2014)

Interested in exploring the point at which skin and clothing meet, Viktor & Rolf created a collection of latex couture pieces titled Bonbon.

The fluid materiality of latex (not commonly used in high fashion) juxtaposed with the light colour palette resulted in an almost ethereal and angelic collection.

The pieces were created seamlessly and designed to appear as a second skin.

To depict an illusion of depth stylistic birds, bows and ribbons were hand painted onto the latex, in a trompe-l'œil technique.

The Bonbon collection was modelled by ballerinas en-pointe.

Red Carpet Dressing (Autumn/Winter 2014–15)

Described as a "surrealist commentary," Viktor & Rolf's collection Red Carpet Dressing explored the reciprocal relationship between celebrity and designer.

The duo humorously exploited the concept of dressing for the red carpet by designing 22 couture gowns from red carpet.

Elegant high fashion pieces were made from unassuming rough and rigid carpet.

The designs incorporated animal skin patterns made from the same material and sewn onto the base.

The monochromatic palette gave primary focus to the design and pattern making techniques, which recalled primitive knotted constructions and classic couture styles.

Viktor & Rolf again used the haute couture platform to comment on the fashion industry and contemporary culture.

In 2015, the designers halted ready-to-wear production and returned once more to haute couture citing that they wanted to "explore the limits of wearability, function and form."

The fashion company has created both ready-to-wear and haute couture fashion collections.

Below is a comprehensive anthology of all Viktor and Rolf collections.

Early haute couture collections

Ready-to-wear

Van Gogh Girls (Spring/Summer 2015)

The ideas of momentum and growth were of central importance in the 2015 haute couture collection.

To visualise the central concept, Viktor & Rolf adopted the quintessential summer outfit of a floral sundress, flip flops and a straw dress, and transformed the imagery into three-dimensional sculptural pieces.

The collection escalated from a simplistic Baby Doll silhouette into extravagant couture pieces.

Floral outlines evolved into three-dimensional fabric flowers, as simple straw hats extended laterally to connect with the pleated dresses.

The evocative colours and black graphic outlines present throughout the garment collection were reminiscent of Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, of whom the collection was aptly named after.

Van Gogh Girls is not only an exercise in exaggerating forms and imagery, but additionally showcased the close relationship between artists and fashion designers.

Wearable Art (Autumn/Winter 2015–16)