Viktor & Rolf

Viktor & Rolf

Harper's BAZAAR talks to Viktor of design duo Viktor & Rolf about the release of their new fragrance, Flowerbomb

The Paris collections, March 2, 2005: backstage at the Viktor & Rolf show, an army of modern-day sleeping beauties stand in line, their hair splayed against lace-trimmed pillows. As the first of these enchanting maidens strolls out into the decrepit theatre venue, a reverential silence befalls the chattering flock of beady-eyed fashion magpies. The story unfolds: crisp cotton sheets are crafted into shirts; quilted comforters are sliced into tailored suits; the satin bedding of a lover’s nest is draped into the prettiest gown; luxurious duvets are magically transformed into opera coats. A fashion fairytale is born.

Cut to Mecca Cosmetica, Paddington, Sydney, August 25, 2005: inside the cult cosmetic emporium, an army of modern-day (beauty) queens refuse to stand in line, their hands grabbing for Viktor & Rolf’s latest offering, Flowerbomb. As the olfactory bouquet of flowers explodes into sensory overload, a collective “Mmmm” sounds from the inquisitive flock of perma-tanned beauty editors. Tea and bergamot blend into jasmine, freesia and rose which, in turn, merge into patchouli ... and a beauty icon is born.

“Flowerbomb is all about the power of transformation. The power of every individual to turn anything into something positive,” says Viktor, his face covered with a smattering of freckles, and lit up with a milky toothed smile.

“We have been involved in all the elements that make up this beautiful Flowerbomb: the name, the fragrance, the bottle, the packaging, the publicity, and so on. For us, this is the only way to be involved in a project. Flowerbomb is as much our creation as a collection. We have always wanted to go into beauty. Fashion is so much more than clothes,” says Rolf, who resembles a young Rowan Atkinson. “Fashion is a dream and fragrance is a dream in a bottle.”

As with all double acts there’s that strange insider thing going on as each looks to the other for approval. “We cannot say any more: what comes from Viktor and what comes from me,” says Rolf, “it’s like some common language.” The conception of the first open-able (I’ll explain later) bottle of Viktor & Rolf fragrance was announced way back in 2002 when a portrait of the bespectacled duo appeared in The International Herald Tribune, with the words “because we’re worth it” scribbled across the page, followed by the statement: “L’Oréal is proud to announce the partnership with fashion designers Viktor & Rolf for the creation of their brand in the beauty arena”. While the launch of a new designer fragrance is far from newsworthy, it’s the first time in 17 years that L’Oréal has signed up with a designer (the last one being Giorgio Armani), a fact made even more remarkable considering that Viktor & Rolf started out making clothes that looked like Coco the Clown goes to Hiroshima.

Some history: Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, born May 1969 and December 1969 respectively, met while studying fashion at Arnhem Academy of Arts in the Netherlands. They decided to join forces following graduation in 1992 and, after claiming three awards at the 1993 Hyères Festival and a training stint in Paris, shot to fame in October 1997 with Launch, a show held at the Torch Gallery in Amsterdam, where a lack of funds but a wealth of vision saw the pair exhibit miniatures of their designs on Barbie-sized dolls and their very own fragrance: Le Parfum. But despite having its own advertising campaign and in-store sales points, the 250 limited edition bottles contained “virtual” perfume; the wax seal at the bottle’s mouth was not to be opened.

“We felt frustrated so we portrayed our dream world by making these miniatures,” explains Viktor. “They were all clichéd moments that you have in a great fashion designer’s life — the studio where you create, the catwalk, your own photo shoot, shop and perfume. It was like a dream.”

What some perceived to be mischief-making from a pair of pranksters actually hinted at the things to come and the scale of their ambition. Battling against the dominant luxury goods conglomerates, whose growth characterised late ’90s fashion, Viktor & Rolf bravely attempted to infiltrate the system with a plan that was unheard of: via the Paris Haute Couture. Who could fail to notice the autumn/winter 1998 Atomic Bomb collection, where the models’ heads nestled on top of huge mushroom shapes: a black chiffon blouse inflated with brightly coloured balloons, a le smoking tuxedo pumped up like a pigeon’s chest and huge paper chain-like ruffs that encircled the neck. While orders weren’t exactly flooding in, the publicity was. Viktor & Rolf had very much arrived.

Spring/summer 1999 and a haute couture collection sliced entirely out of black trimmed with white that was paraded under ultraviolet lights in total darkness. All that could be seen were the glowing white trims that created their own ghostly silhouettes. Autumn/winter 1999 witnessed another fashion moment where model Maggie Rizer was layered with the entire collection, piece after piece, so that she looked like some Holy Virgin Empress of the Outer Galactic Russian Dolls. Their last haute couture show, Bells, in July 2000, (where models staggered down a fogged-out runway with outfits covered in tiny bells so that you could only hear them) was followed by the launch of ready-to-wear for autumn/winter 2000.

First up was Stars & Stripes (“For us it was about the struggle between the personal and the commercial”); followed by Tapdance, where Viktor & Rolf joined a tap-dancing troupe; Black Hole, where the girls had black painted faces to match their black outfits; White, where virginal confirmation whites championed that season’s love’n’hearts trend; Bluescreen, where the girls matched a blue screen used for special effects; Flowers, where models shockingly danced and twirled like voodoo-possessed disco queens; and One Woman, their autumn/winter 2003 homage to Tilda Swinton where the models were made to look like clones of the art-house actress. (An interesting observation came from Swinton herself who said that, “The strange and the great thing is that dress up a bunch of people to look ‘the same’ and they each end up looking very clearly like nothing but themselves.”)

“We met Tilda at the Russian Doll couture show,” says Rolf, “And then one day she called us up to make a dress for her to wear to the Golden Globes when she was nominated for The Deep End. She came to Amsterdam and then, of course, we put her into a lot of clothes. It was the first time that we saw clothes come alive in a way that we hadn’t experienced before.”

“And then we became friends,” says Viktor. “She is something much more than a muse. A muse is more passive, someone you project something onto.”

“We call her The Glorifier,” says Rolf. “It’s a term we learnt from L’Oréal.

In perfume shops the perfume testing bottle, which everybody can use, is called the glorifier.”

Which brings us neatly back to the story of Flowerbomb. “The spring/summer 2005 collection was a celebration of Flowerbomb. The show had it all: a huge stage with a turntable setting, a countdown, pyrotechnics. It started with a parade of almost militaristic models dressed entirely in black and wearing motorcycle helmets. They took their positions on stage as if they were in a large photo studio posing for a group picture. After the last model had taken her place, the lights faded, a countdown could be heard, and firework explosions followed. The stage turned and revealed a mirrored image with models dressed in all variations of pinks and reds. Their faces were made up in pink, like the flowers that form the fragrance,” says Rolf excitedly, reliving the moment. “Flowerbomb is to be the first of our collection of fragrances. For Christmas, a special edition will be launched, and 2006 sees the birth of our first Monsieur men’s fragrance.”

The Viktor & Rolf empire grows ever larger. Besides their venture into fragrance, they have just opened the doors on their first store and closed the doors on their 10th Anniversary exhibition at the Louvre in Paris.

Rolf: “We didn’t show everything, the space was very difficult. It’s meant for historical costumes and exhibitions.”

Viktor: “But we wanted to show the concept of each collection.”

Rolf: “It was more for us to show our iconic language … ”

Viktor: “ … from year to year and to guide the viewer through. It was a story and it’s a reaction about the way we feel about our position in the fashion industry.”

Rolf: “Every time you think you’ve achieved the goal …”

Viktor: “… the horizon moves and you want more.”

Rolf: “We look forward to the next 10 years. This exhibition was like a closure. Now it’s exciting because we’re really infiltrating the system.”

“What interests me, over and above Viktor & Rolf’s invention, is how you can read their work,” says Olivier Saillard, fashion curator at the Louvre. “Their clothes echo the spirit of the modern times. It is a ball of mirrors reflecting the world.”

The same could be said of their new store in Milan’s Via Saint Andrea, where 18th century Dutch neoclassicism is turned upside down. Literally. Walk in the huge oak door, where you are greeted by a smirking satyr, and you will find the doormat on the ceiling.

“You enter into a surrealistic world — the Viktor & Rolf world — where nothing is what it seems to be,” says Viktor.

“It’s an Alice in Wonderland experience,” says Rolf. “The boutique looks like a neoclassical shop turned upside down. It features an oak parquet ceiling, chandeliers coming out of the floor, even the video showing our latest collection is projected upside down.”

The pair has said before that everything has happened by intuition, but the way their empire is unfolding — the couture publicity assault, the ready-to-wear, the menswear, the perfume, the boutique — it looks as if it has been conceived with military precision. So, is there method to their madness? “Sometimes we say to each other that if we think hard enough, these vibrations get into the world. Don’t forget, it’s taken 10 years,” says Rolf.

“One thing leads to another and then you’re on a roll,” says Viktor. “We aspire to become a fashion house in the great tradition of those before us, but on our terms. Our decision to start with haute couture seems a sly business move in retrospect, but then it was something that for us was a route. It gave us the opportunity to grow in our profession, and to develop the style that is now recognised as Viktor & Rolf. The concept fragrance was part of this period of experimentation. Now we look back on that time with a sense of pride and strange disconnection. We love what we do, and although that period may look more romantic now, we are happy to have had the opportunity to have such a large audience with whom we can communicate. But the best is yet to come.”

- Jamie Huckbody