Simply Abu Dhabi XXXI

vIKTOR & ROLF T hey made it! viktor & Rolf celebrated 25 years this haute couture season. For the occasion, the dutch designer duo celebrated this milestone at the famous Le Trianon theatre with a show. This haute couture collection was a revisitation of their best dresses from their long-lasting career: the ballgown with holes made for Spring 2012 but reinterpreted as couture, the Wearable Art Fall 2015 collection, the ‘No’ coat presented for their Fall 2008 collection—all pieces that made history but which were also part of fashion history. In total, there were 25 pieces, all white, as their approach to fashion was almost holy, magical and whimsical. It was quite an emotional show and, especially for me, a journey of nostalgia punctuated by, ‘Oh wow! This was this collection,’ or ‘Oh, I remember that,’ or ‘I forgot they also made this.’ Those 25 pieces also formed an intimate reflection inspired by the creation of the viktor & Rolf Fashion Artists 25 Years exhibition currently at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam curated by Thierry-Maxime Loriot who stated: ‘The singular and enchanted vision found in viktor & Rolf’s work offers a unique dialogue between art and fashion for the past 25 years. Their art of performing fashion, their strong identity and silhouettes, and the timelessness of their creations never followed trends or rules of the industry: it shows how they pushed the boundaries with sincerity and authenticity to their creativity, savoir-faire and craftsmanship. This collection, inspired by the exhibition “viktor & Rolf Fashion Artists” that we worked on together, is not a nostalgic look back to their past, but a celebration of their future, a new beginning that shows how the strength of their style and their codes over the years are still relevant and belong to the history of fashion.’ So, what’s next for the dutch duo?