Paris Fashion Week: The show’s the thing at Viktor & Rolf
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At Viktor & Rolf, the show was the thing.
At a time when the fashion industry is redefining what luxury means, designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren pulled back the curtain, and put the nuts and bolts of the design process center stage on their runway, transforming one garment into another and another in front of our very eyes.
It was similar to what Dolce & Gabbana did in Milan, when they used footage of workers in their atelier as a backdrop for their runway show. The message? The human touch is what you get when you pay designer prices. In other words, luxury is personal.
Horsting and Snoeren didn’t miss a beat, dressing and undressing model Kristen McMenamy in 23 layers of costume changes. With Lindsay Lohan and ‘CSI’ actor Gary Dourdan looking on from the front row, the event was a comment on the spectacle of fashion too.
A runway show must have entertainment value, something these designers have delivered from day one. And that’s especially true now that runway performances are brand advertisements competing for eyeballs on the Internet like everything else.
Not surprisingly, the clothes were quite versatile, with crystal-studded pulls to release the bustle on a black evening gown, and a dress unzipping and reversing into an anorak. Coats were enormous, allowing them to be layered upon layers.
Which meant that this was a collection for all shapes and sizes, from Lohan to the bodacious Beth Ditto, who was also sitting front row.
Plus sizes and petites all rolled into one. Now that’s a novel idea.
-- Booth Moore in Paris
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