MELBOURNE.- The spectacular and avant-garde creations of international luxury fashion house, Viktor & Rolf, are showcased in this world-first exhibition developed in collaboration with the National Gallery of Victoria. Viktor & Rolf: Fashion Artists, running until February 2017 at the NGV, Melbourne, Australia, explores Viktor & Rolf’s career-defining ethos of wearable art.

As self-confessed outsiders of the fashion world, since forming their artistic partnership in 1992, fashion artists Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have gained critical acclaim for their rebellious approach to design, technical virtuosity, and deep knowledge of fashion and art history. Throughout their illustrious twenty-five year career, Viktor & Rolf have carved a contrary identity that pushes the boundaries between art and fashion, often juxtaposing contrasting elements, such as romance and anarchy, exuberance and control, classicism and rebellion.

The duo have become renowned for their experimental runway shows, including their 1999 Russian Doll runway show in which model Maggie Rizer was progressively dressed by the designers in nine different layers and 2003’s One Woman Show fashion collection inspired by actress and muse Tilda Swinton, in which the actress herself appeared amidst a runway of models made up in her likeness.

The exhibition explores the elements that make Viktor & Rolf designs unique in the contemporary fashion world. Featuring some of the most show-stopping and innovative works by the Dutch design duo, the exhibition includes over 40 haute couture pieces from the designers’ collections, presented alongside earlier designs from the Viktor & Rolf archive and international museum collections.

Also on display throughout two fashion galleries are 21 exquisite dolls, traditionally handmade by the Viktor & Rolf atelier using porcelain, papier-mâché and human hair, and each wearing an intricately crafted miniaturised version of a key collection work. First created for The House of Viktor & Rolf (2008, Barbican Art Gallery, London), the designers have celebrated each major collection since with a new doll dressed in an emblematic design.

The exhibition has been developed in close collaboration with Viktor & Rolf and international guest curator Thierry-Maxime Loriot, curator of the blockbuster exhibition The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier.

‘Viktor & Rolf stretch the definition of both fashion and art,’ said Tony Ellwood, Director, NGV. ‘Their boundary-pushing designs challenge the way fashion is developed, presented and disseminated with masterful craftsmanship, intellectual rigour and an ironic sense of humour. This exhibition is a rare opportunity to experience the unconventional creativity and technical brilliance of this innovative Dutch duo.’

‘With exquisite craftsmanship and dreamy silhouettes, sometimes made from tinkling bells or red carpet, the Dutch fashion artists Viktor & Rolf have been creating wearable art for the past twenty years in a unique, singular style,’ said Thierry-Maxime Loriot, Curator, Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists.

Viktor & Rolf: Fashion Artists is on display at NGV International, 180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Australia from 21 October 2016 – 26 February 2017.