The backdrop design for the Viktor & Rolf fall/winter 2014-15 show was a nest of knitted roads; the runway was a lamp-lit street. Joan as Policeman singing a soothingly slow version of “Highway to Hell” gracefully enhanced the gentle evening melancholia of this setting. The first silhouettes appeared as light-grey as the road itself, a dress or two meandering down the front to a tapered tip.
Asymmetrical touches here and there were radical, on one occasion revealing the merest lunula of hip skin on one side, a strip of ankle skin on the other. The most surprising items in the first sequence were the trompe-l’oeil outfits, simulating multiple layers and enlarged impressions of silver-grey cable-knit. The flattening effect of illusionary layering was wisely relieved at times by lengthy boiled wool coats textured further by strands of chunky raised-surface cable-knit.
Viktor & Rolf Paris Fashion Week FW 2014
Lighter white and blue tones were gradually phased in towards the end of the lineup, culminating in a dazzling watered sky-blue dress surmounted by a cloud-grey choker. Out of the flash of sky-colored garments came a burst of salmon peach cable-knits and flower prints, the floral patterning toying with the recurrent v-neck inspiration, spilling organically over its frame. The collection is both original and subtle, ensuring that the wearability of this chic urban autumnal collection remains high.
