The House of Viktor and Rolf Exhibition opened to the public at the Barbican yesterday, following Tuesday's launch attended by famous fashionistas Alexa Chung, Kelly Osborne, Erin O'Connor and Mischa Barton, so of course I hopped on the pink snake and got myself down there for a look.
The retrospecive exhibition showcases the Avant Garde Dutch duo's work from the past 15 years. In true Viktor and Rolf style the exhibition is not laid out as a simple display, but rather as an installation featuring a 6 meter tall house, on which miniature dolls stand wearing every signature piece that V&R have come up with since 1992. The dolls are reflective of the miniature mannequins designers such as Dior and Schiaparelli used during the second world war when fabrics were too scarce and expensive to justify making up life size pieces to show to prospective customers. Not only do the dolls add an interesting spooky effect to the installation, they allow Viktor and Rolf to nod to the fashion greats and the decadence their clothes represented, the influence of which is clearly felt in their collections.
Surrounding the 'House of Viktor and Rolf' are the life size pieces, alongside footage of their ever innovative catwalk shows. Highlights include, 2005's Flowerbomb, where Victor and Rolf revealed a pink and gold version of the black collection they had just shown amidst an explosion of petals and glitter.
Also on display was Russian Doll 1999-2000. During the catwalk show for this couture collection, instead of using a parade of models, V&R showed one model on a spinning podium and layered the collection onto her, one piece after the other, like a Russian Doll. As well as demonstrating some beautiful beaded pieces, Russian Doll provides an effective visual comment on the potentially suffocating nature of fashion.
The exhibition not only displays some wonderful pieces, but shows Viktor and Rolf's wonderful ability to blur the boundaries between fashion and art. It will be on display at The Barbican until the 21st September.
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