June 27, 2024 |
Viktor and Rolf brought a whole new energy to Paris this couture week – one marked by cartoonish cuts, mad proportions and vivacious colours. Calling the collection Haute Abstraction, the clothes that came swaggering along the perimeter of the rectangular, ultraviolet runway maximised silhouettes and played with the infinitude of imagination.
The design duo’s primary point of departure was their own breakthrough AW98 collection. Dubbed Atomic Bomb, it was a bulbous array of nonsensical shapes and bizarre clothing compositions. Archival imagery from that same monumental show appeared across the official show invitation sent out to guests earlier this month, and its influence was undeniable.
Born from the pair’s desire to articulate a “certain absurdism”, sculpture was the collection’s cornerstone. Jutting out from the hips in a very ‘tweedledee tweedledum’ kind of way, billowing trousers had structural, square waist bands or panniers and were rendered in graphic herringbone or lustrous solid hues. Using “building blocks drawn from the realms of constructivism and cubism, as well as from a child’s block set”, shoulders were sculpted into geometric triangles and spontaneous skirts became three-dimensional spheres worn over polka dot tights by Falke.
Backed by a mysterious soundtrack featuring vocalised monosyllables across an arcane beat, it was weird and wonderful in the best way.
Photography courtesy of Viktor And Rolf.
