We do live in a complex world, that's undeniable, a world too often filtered by contrasting impulses - think about the elation of a high fashion show versus the anxieties generated by a war in the heart of Europe reaching its first anniversary. Can this tension between different forces and the sense of alienation we live in be represented on the runway? Yes, at least according to Dutch fashion house Viktor & Rolf.
Things started off pretty normal at their runway at Paris' Intercontinental Hotel showcased during the local Haute Couture week. Models walked down the runway wearing classic tulle ballgowns (matched with satin-encrusted Christian Louboutin heels) that you may have seen on Ava Gardner or Gina Lollobrigida in the '50s.
You could have ticked off all the elements and features that made the designs fall into the Haute Couture category: bare shoulders; constructed bodice embellished with sequins and bows; accentuated waist; ample multi-layered tulle skirts; pastel colours evoking the works of 18th-century French painters François Boucher and Antoine Watteau, as explained by the press release. Everything was delicate, soft and feminine; nothing was extremely revolutionary, but everything conformed to the stereotypical category, at times verging towards the boring.
But life is a continuous surprise and, suddenly, everything changed and the ordinary turned into the absurd and the uncanny (something announced by a peach gown that from the front looked like a conventional one, but, sideways, revealed a very different reality View this photo).
Gowns retained their shapes and construction, with the same bodices and the multi-layered skirts, but, freeing themselves from human constraints like fashion(able) symbionts, suddenly flipped and rotated on the body of the models who were left in their beige corsets and ended up walking next to gowns, or wearing them positioned at off angles.
In one case a gown was worn upside-down as if it were defying gravity: it engulfed the model, concealing her face and finishing at the top of her thighs. In another a model donned a gown horizontally, showing a black hole in the middle of the torso, giving the impression of a dress viewed from above.
In most cases, it looked like an uncanny collision between a model and a dress had occurred, or it may have also been a vision generated by a naughty Artificial Intelligence responding to a prompt in a Text-to-Image application.
Called "Late Stage Capitalism Waltz", the collection was meant to provide a visualization of the sense of alienation. The title referred to (and showed the consequences of) a dramatic disconnection between image and reality. The inspiration for this collection came indeed from a double vision of the world – IRL and filtered through our phones. After taking a picture, we are indeed able to transform it, maybe use filters to distort shapes and silhouettes and change the reality.
The second disconnection Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren hinted at was a metaphorical one and was based on juxtapositions: traditional couture (soft colours, sculpted silhouettes) and modern-day couture (the realm of experimentation and at times of very weird experiments), possible wardrobes vs impossible ones and impossible fantasies or nightmares becoming possible.
Then there was a final disconnection generated by the cruelest disconnections in the world we live in: we are indeed able to look at a fashion show in glee, mesmerized by colours, embellishments and grand volumes, we enjoy watching extraordinary makeup tutorials and travel videos showing wonderful locations, but, in the same feed, we may get daily doses of apocalyptic news from all over the world.
Apart from couture skills, there was a technological aspect behind it all - 3D printing - used for the dress structures and the bodices (that were 3D-printed in collaboration with Hans Boodt Mannequins).
After Schiaparelli, Doja Cat was also at this show, minus the blood red crystals, but sporting a mustache and goatee made of false eyelashes. This was a minor absurdist touch compared to the inverted and rotated gowns symbolising our topsy-turvy world in tumult and collective alienation, but it retained a touch of irony that went well with the show. After all, the most common purpose of irony is to create humor and point out the absurdity of life.
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