Dutch fashion designers Viktor & Rolf have a vast history of cultural fluidity amongst their lives and within their collections. The designers invoke different cultural motifs as a result of their upbringing.
Origins of the Viktor & Rolf brand
Viktor & Rolf were born and raised in Holland. Eventually, the two attended university in the Netherlands at the Arnhem Academy of Art and Design. They then were off to pursue their careers and design aspirations in Paris. Throughout their work and design journeys, they have cultivated many lines that are influenced by differing cultures.
Culturally fluid fashion design
Influences of Paris, Amsterdam, Russia, and the United States are represented through their various collections.
Even though they eventually moved, Paris is a significant attribute to their brand due to their living there after graduation. It is also the location that their luxury fashion house consistently displays their lines during Paris Fashion Week, along with to stores in Europe and the United States. Amsterdam is significant in that it is the city where the headquarters for their design house is located.
Furthermore, several of these countries are represented on their clothing. Another cultural aspect that is relevant is Russia and the significant cultural symbolism of a Russian doll. In their 1999 “Russian Doll” collection, one model is used to display the collection and the designers themselves keep layering more pieces on top of the prior piece to give off the effect of a Russian doll.
The Viktor & Rolf collection the following year, “Stars and Stripes,” pays homage to colonial styles and variations of the American flag pattern to its pieces.
The consonance of fashion, design and culture
Culturally fluid fashion and design go hand in hand. Throughout their years of high-fashion design, Viktor & Rolf have had influences and tributes to different cultures — whether it be to a singular item of significance, a theme or just a blatant reference or shout-out to the location. It also seems as if there will be a continuation of these cultural highlights and more inclusivity with the diversity of models they use and have used throughout their career.
Viktor & Rolf maintain this culmination of differing approaches to their brand, along with how they approach representation. This allows them to achieve cultural fluidity within their fashion.
