Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists

The latest international fashion exhibition at the NGV is Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists. It features the avant-garde creations of the famous Dutch designers, showcasing over 40 pieces from their haute couture and ready-to-wear collections, as well as videos of their runway shows over the years. In addition, the exhibition contains 21 handmade porcelain dolls that are dressed in a miniature key piece to represent each of their major collections since 2008.

Viktor&Rolf are known for the sculptural elements of their designs, with pieces from some of their key collections such as Cutting Edge Couture, The Fashion Show, Wearable Art and Performance of Sculptures on display in the exhibition.

For Viktor&Rolf the theater of the fashion shows can be just as important as the clothes themselves. Two examples of this were one of their first shows, Russian Doll, where model Maggie Rizer was on a rotating platform as they kept adding layers of clothing one on top of another until she was wearing all nine outfits at once. Another key show was Flowerbomb, where the first part of the collection was all in black, and then the stage rotated to reveal another group of models all in pink (this show also went along with the launch of the Flowerbomb perfume, which is one of my favorites).

The exhibition is an amazing opportunity to get to see the construction of these complex designs up close. It runs until 26 February 2017 at the NGV.