Mysterious creatures came down the runway for Viktor & Rolf’s Spring 2022 collection full of beautiful, captivating garments born from shadow–right where darkness and light meet.
This Dutch design duo is one of the most intriguing and interesting in the fashion scene today. Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have managed to break barriers and take us to surreal spaces, where the established rules of aesthetics and proportions disappear. In each of Viktor & Rolf’s collections, they give free rein to their imagination and explore social issues through the creation of clothing. Since their first Haute Couture collection in 1998, these two creative minds made it clear that they are not just designers or tailors; they are artists. Their medium is fashion and their canvas is the body.
In the Viktor & Rolf Spring 2022 Couture collection, these two fashion artists analyzed the concept of fear of the unexpected, that feeling of uncertainty that everyone feels when they think about the future. This was the starting point that finally led Viktor and Rolf to choose Dracula as the symbol that embodies the ultimate fear. “It’s a powerful symbol of fear of change in society and it felt appropriate at this moment,” said Horsting of his inspiration. It’s an excellent analytical point of view on the state of society and the historical moment we are experiencing. We are at a crossroads, right in the middle of a transition, and it’s scary. But what the Viktor & Rolf collection represents is that we must overcome fear, not let it paralyze us, and see beyond it. For behind fear, we can find beauty.
It is in the 1922 silent film, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, in which we find inspiration for the silhouettes of Viktor & Rolf’s new Haute Couture collection. The iconic scene of Count Orlok’s shadow walking up the stairs was recreated at the opening of the runway show with the shadows of the models. Shadows of elongated creatures appeared on the walls in front of the guests, while a gloomy soundtrack filled the room, giving everyone chills. It was an indescribable feeling–somewhere between intrigue and joy—to see the brand’s Spring 2022 Couture collection. All of these elements created the perfect atmosphere of an old Hollywood horror movie. This is the ideal metaphor, because in silent movies you had to communicate a whole feeling through movement and gesture, and in fashion, the goal is to tell a story through color and fabric.
Viktor & Rolf’s characteristic drama was not lacking in this new collection. The models stepped out in corsets with boning underneath the garments that lifted the shoulders creating a more elongated silhouette. The Spring 2022 Couture collection was made up of coats, jackets, shirts and dresses, all with dark silhouettes. But as in the analogy about fear, once we took a closer look at these garments with distorted silhouettes, we saw that they were beautiful, precision-made garments. In fact, all the runway looks could be worn without a corset, resulting in oversize garments that swath us in fabric.
Each of the looks in the Spring 2022 Couture collection had an enigmatic aura. Outfits inblack and white served as a base for pastel accents. There were delicate garments like a mauve dress with a deep V-neckline and XL bow detail at the waist and the classic combination of a white shirt with raised shoulders and black tuxedo pants. Another sensational moment was the floor-length pleated dress in iridescent baby blue with an XL flower collar. These looks were impressive in both design and craftmanship.
Viktor & Rolf is a brand dedicated itself to creating more than clothing. Each of its pieces is not only a design but a philosophy. Viktor & Rolf garments, including those featured in this Spring 2022 Couture collection, are works of art we can live in. This season Dutch artists Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren transform something fearful—Dracula– into something beautiful. It was an image that took on a different meaning once captured on canvas. The textiles morphed the vision into beautiful clothing, and fear gave way to a new dawn.
XO
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