The imaginative upcycling, by Viktor&Rolf
The essence. The purity of things. The love for tissues. The illusion. The program of Haute Couture Paris for Spring Summer 2017 has surprised us with a amazing upcycling collection, the Boulevard of Broken Dreams, by Viktor & Rolf. It highlights an ongoing interest in the imaginative upcycling of existing elements.
For Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2017, fashion artists Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren continue to delve deeper into their search for conscious design, utilising vintage cocktail -and eveningwear from various decades as their base material existing dresses -oftentimes damaged, with visible signs of wear, are taken apart.
Their fragments are pieced back together as surreal collages, restoring their components into new ensembles with unexpected shapes.
The designers were inspired by Kintsugi, a type of Japanese pottery where broken pieces are repaired and dusted with gold or silver to show that imperfections are valorized.
The focus is placed on finding value in missing pieces, cracks and chips, bringing to light the scars that come from life experiences – the designers declared. Acknowledging the beauty of imperfection is a positive reinforcement, which ultimately renders the original into something more beautiful and more valuable, essentially transforming the imperfect into a thing of beauty – they underline.
Directly after the show, three creations are available for direct purchase on the Viktor&Rolf Concept Store.
A multicolour degrade palette of faint primary colours and light pastels is enhanced with burgundy, raspberry and green – from the Greenery, colour of the year 2017. The silhouette, characterized by asymmetrical shapes, is light and airy, featuring garments that are both moulded onto the body and
voluminous.
It’s the second chapter of the duo’s recycling saga. This season marks an evolution from Autumn/Winter 2016 when materials from past Viktor&Rolf collections were used as a basis to create a stepping-stone for the new.
