The exhibition ‘Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists 25 Years’, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Amsterdam-based high fashion house  Viktor&Rolf, shows some of the most impressive and innovative works by this Dutch design duo at the Kunsthal Rotterdam. For the past 25 years the  symbiotic collaboration between Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren has led to works of uncompromising beauty and extraordinary collections. It is impossible to trace the results of their collaboration back to individual contributions. In their own words: “We often play with the idea of two people  being one, or both of us being of one mind, and we play with our imageto express that.”   

The exhibition ‘Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists 25 Years’shows Viktor&Rolf’s radical conception of ‘wearable art’ and explores the elements that make  their designs unique in the contemporary fashion world. Throughout their illustrious career, Viktor&Rolf have carved a contradictory identity that  pushes the boundaries betweenart and fashion, often contrasting romance and rebellion, exuberance and control, classicism and conceptualism.  Around sixty works from Viktor&Rolf’s haute couture collections give an insight into their unconventional and conceptual approach, also showing that  they have never shied away from criticising the fashion industry (of which they are a part themselves). With regard to form and materials – the  interplay of lines, volumes, bows, collars, ruffles etcetera  – their creations are stunningly beautiful and technically perfect. Their fashion shows are  like powerfully eloquent ‘performances’. The 1999 Russian Doll show, for which Viktor&Rolf draped ninelayers of clothing around a single woman,  top model Maggie Rizer, meant their international breakthrough. Subsequently many other high-profile haute couture shows followed. Creations from  collections such as ‘Bedtime Story’(2005), ‘The Fashion Show’(2007), ‘NO’(2008), ‘Cutting Edge Couture’(2010), ‘Red Carpet Dressing’(2014),  ‘Wearable Art’(2015) and ‘Van Gogh Girls’(2015) can be seen in the exhibition, as well as pieces that have never been shown before from their newest collections, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’(2017), ‘Action Dolls’(2017/18) and ‘Surreal Satin’(2018).

The  exhibition  includes  25 handmade  examples  from  the  ‘Dolls’  series  which  consists  of  replicas  of  antique  dolls  dressed  in  some  of  the  fashion  artists’  most  iconic designs.  Each  porcelain  doll  is  dressed  in  an  haute  couture  creation  that  was  exactlyscaled-down  on  the  basis  of  the  original  patterns,  a meticulous  and  extremely  labour-intensive  process.  Even  the  fabrics  have  been  woven  to  scale,  and  the  miniature  model’s  hair  and  makeup  are  exact  copies  of  the  runway  styles.  

One  of  the  special  loans  is  the  wedding  gown  that  Viktor&Rolfdesigned  in  2004  for  Princess  Mabel  van  Oranje-Nassauon  the  occasion  of her  marriage  to  Prince  Friso.  It  can  be  admired  alongside  its  miniature  ‘Doll’  version,  a  special  loan  from  ING  Art  Management.  Other remarkable  works  include  the  garmentViktor&Rolfdesigned  for  Madonna,  to  be  worn  during  her  2016  benefit  concert  at  Miami  Art  Basel, and  the  theatrical  costumes  for  the  Dutch  National  Ballet  production  of  ‘Dutch  Doubles’  (2014). 

Viktor  Horsting  and  Rolf Snoeren  (both  born  in  1969)  graduated  in  1992  from  ArtEz  Institute  in  Arnhem  (The  Netherlands).  In  1993  they  won  the  first  three prizes  of  the  most  important  fashion  competition  in  the  world:  Le  Salon  Européen  des  Jeunes  Stylistes  in  Hyères  (France).  From  1994,  they started  to  present  their  haute  couture  collections  asinstallations,  mainly  in  art  galleries,  until  1998  when  they  presented  their  first  haute couture  collection.  In  2000,  they  launched  their  ready-to-wear  line  for  women,  until  2013,  to  focus  onlyon  haute  couturesince  then. Their  work  is  included  in  numerous  Dutch  and  international  museum  collections  and  is  worn  by  famous artists  such  as  Tilda  Swinton,  Tori  Amos  and  Rufus  Wainwright.  In  2016-17,  the  exhibition  titled  ‘Viktor&Rolf:  Fashion  Artists’was presented  at  the  National  Gallery  of  Victoria  (NGV)  in  Melbourne followed  in  2018  by  its  adaptation  to  celebrate  the  duo's  25th anniversary  exhibition  at  Kunsthal  Rotterdam.