The brand Viktor & Rolf Even though it is thirty years old, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren’s one-of-a-kind surrealist and (sometimes somewhat unsettling) hilarious perspective on fashion has not changed in the least. Their sardonic and upside-down attitude is still very much alive, and the couture show that took place today was the epitome of V&R’s tongue-in-cheek approach to conceptual entertainment. Instead of turning their anniversary collection into a procession of gargantuan, billowing gowns in the usual shape of impossible birthday cakes à la Viktor & Rolf, they went in the opposite direction. “We wanted the celebration to be about the tiniest garment there is—the bathing suit,” they stated backstage. “We wanted the celebration to be about the smallest garment there is.”

Artists are often the sorts of people that are fixated on one thing and have a single-minded focus, and Dutch designers are not exceptions to this rule. Their repertoire has frequently centred on recurring patterns, such as variations on a theme or repeated phrases. The possibility of disassembling and reassembling a bathing suit, whether it be a one-piece swimsuit with a cover-up or a skimpy bikini, was investigated in this context with painstaking attention to detail.

Rigid ruffles and rows of bows so high as to cover the ears sprouted straight up from the plunging necklines of high-cut bodysuits, or overflowed from necklines sneaking onto the legs; three different sized bikinis were juxtaposed one on top of the other in a sort of “I’m seeing triple” tipsy effect. Similarly, rigid ruffles sprouted straight up from the plunging necklines of high-cut bodysuits. The use of décolletages in 3D cubic form, which served as an apparent replacement for sleeves, led to the expansion of catchphrases such as “NO” and “I WISH YOU WELL.”

The show-stopping frosting on the birthday cake, however, were headless mannequins dressed in feminine black fitted tuxedos. These mannequins were either clinging onto the backs of the models or twisting in numerous forms around their bodies as if they were urgently trying to get someone’s attention and didn’t want to let go. What is the point of all of this? “It’s open to imagination,” the designers said in unison. It should come as no surprise that the V&R repertory does not include the tedium of rational and logical answers.

The Collection