You’ve got to love Dutch fashion-duo Viktor and Rolf who’s designs are famous for their inimitable layering , exaggerating, distorting and repetition of classical design elements such as blouses with 10 nested collars, upside-down and lop-sided dresses. I really loved their A/W08-9 Collection which was a statement on foot in itself starting with the first look on the catwalk which was a grey trench coat which morphed into a collar that screamed with audacity the word ‘NO’. That’s what I love about Viktor and Rolf, they are all about making a bold statement, standing out and being different whilst at the same time maintaining that professional level of type of designer also creating pieces that really exceed the message of what they are about translating into very chic, elegant and wearable clothing.
While Viktor & Rolf have gained great attention for their artistic, concept-driven catwalk presentations i.e for their winter of 1999 presentation –‘Russian Doll’, they dressed model Maggie Rizer in layer upon layer of couture dresses, piled on top of one another; at the end of the draping she was wearing 70 dresses in total. They have also used a blue collection of clothes as a chroma-key blue-screen to project video and in their Fall ‘07 collection, each model wore scaffolding with her own lights and music, though this was a spectacular I might have been a bit concerned for the models' safety but the show was executed exquisitely. I loved the presentation they did for their first menswear collection which they modelled themselves changing outfits on the stage. They also designed a clothes range for Swedish-based retailer H&M in November of 2006 following in the great footsteps of the amazing Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney. So now you can see why I’ve fallen in love with V&R and I could go on forever about what they have achieved in the past but I guess you see where I’m trying to get with this but more to the point since fashion is all about change and movement I am therefore very excited to discuss their new developments. Let’s talk eye-lashes, particularly Viktor & Rolf for Shu Uemura lashes.
Viktor & Rolf for Shu Uemura
I have terrible lashes, they are short, crooked and bushy but I have since lost my temper and any interest for fakes the day I realised how much money I was throwing away on ones that never stayed on longer than 10mins and besides they are hard to put on and rubbish. After growing up and discovering the wonderful things a good mascara can do, I thought to myself who needs fake eyelashes when mine can do just as well for a good few hours – you know what to expect when good money is well spent that is why I have absolutely no fear and am all eager to try-out these flickers for a small fortune, I’ll have to block out shoes and other things £50 can buy me out of my mind otherwise it just won’t happen. I really like the fact that they also come in three different styles called Wing, Rhomba and Swirl, again very exaggerated designs and typical of V&R but I think they are quite unusual and striking however, it all depends what look you’re going for. If you do decide to get them just head to the closest Shu Uemura counter near you and you can have them applied by a specialist or if you’re feeling a bit D.I.Y that’s entirely up to you – whatever floats your boat.
Now, upon the opening of their exclusive exhibition at London's Barbican Art Gallery tomorrow (18.06.08), Viktor & Rolf have turned blogger for the NYTIMES to bring to light what goes on behind the scenes of a major fashion nostalgia - the putting together of their exhibition - interesting...Welcome to the club boys!