Contemporary Independent Apparel for Women

Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are the performance artists of the fashion world. This can be seen in the outrageous garments they create; looks so bold and innovative, the very act of wearing becomes a performance piece. Sometimes they take a much more active role in these performances.

In the winter of 1999, the duo appeared on the catwalk to dress a single model, Maggie Rizer, in a presentation called “Matryoshka” or “The Russian Doll.”

The show opened with Rizer dressed in a tunic made of coarse burlap or muslin. They then draped a total of nine layers of elaborately jeweled and embroidered pieces on the model. After each layer, the small silver pedestal on which Rizer stood was rotated to give the audience an opportunity to see each set before the next was laid on. When the final look, a huge evening cape embellished with a single rose and made of the same material as the first look, had been draped, Rizer was carrying approximately 154 lbs. of couture on her body.

Horsting and Snoeren had “intended this presentation as an ode to exclusivity and unavailability, the things that give fashion its aura. Once occluded by the next layer, the previous layer remained present on stage, but impossible for the audience to see.” It is very interesting that the final layer was made of a material much less luxurious than the preceding layers, further highlighting their intentions.

Yesterday, the duo presented their A/W 2010 collection at Paris Fashion Week. The show was called “Glamour Factory” and it was reminiscent of “The Russian Doll.” The model, Kristen McMenam (a popular 90’s model like Rizer), walked out onto the stage engulfed by layers of clothing. The designers then joined her and removed one layer of clothing at a time. These were used to dress the younger models for their walks down the runway. The pieces of clothing would transform once they were passed to the younger models, a sculpted cape on McMenam would become a skirt, and a leather coat was pulled inside-out and transformed into a beaded and crystal-studded one.

McMenam becomes the embodiment of femininity, or at least the physical representation of this particular collection’s ingenue. She is the core and from her all of the looks and different ideas are pulled. It is very interesting that she is also an older model, and the garments are being passed down to younger models. The action is like the “changing of the guard” or a student-mentor relationship.

Once McMenam was stripped down to a nude bodysuit, the process reversed. Again, the transformation continued and dresses became capes and skirts. Horsting and Snoeren explained that, “This time around, we want to show that something can be both wearable and extreme at the same time. It goes beyond a mere idea; it is literally ready for production.”

images are from the book “The House of Viktor & Rolf”