Never say never… Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are getting back into ready-to-wear. This is a surprising move because in 2015, when the duo decided to dedicate themselves almost wholeheartedly to couture, they had been—in Horsting’s words—“very vocal,” about abandoning prêt-à-porter What changed? “At a certain point,” Hosting continued, “we said to ourselves, ‘with all the experimentation that we do in couture, it’s a bit of a pity not to also use it in a more wearable way.’” OTB, which acquired Viktor & Rolf in 2008, is helping the project along. This time around the collections will be developed in-house and produced by OTB rather than a licensee, as in the past.
The number of people who are actually able to buy and wear couture is infinitesimally small. At the same time the appetite for fashion and the reach of the couture is broader than it ever has been. For Horsting and Snoeren, it’s ideation rather than price that separates their made-to-order and off-the-rack designs. “For us, couture is about ideas,” said Horsting. And their ideas are as abstract as they are innovative. The new line enables the conceptual to become wearable.
Plasticity rather than hierarchy seems to drive this project. “In couture, we always play with exaggeration, with a strong silhouette, and that is where this is coming from,” Horsting explained. In ready-to-wear, he added, “you can use the same amount of fabric but not the same techniques; let’s say it’s the wearable version of the couture’s sculptural proposition.”
What differentiates this line is that the patterns and techniques originate in the couture. “It’s the same and it’s different,” Horsting said. Things are transformed rather than lost in translation from one category to another. For fall 2025, the designers have largely focused on their fall 2024 Haute Abstraction couture collection that had a cubist feeling. In reimagining the pieces, the square shapes are retained but the internal supports that created extreme, 3D angularity are softened into drape. (Think of a box pre- and post-assembly.) The tailoring retains the “rigorous and slightly masculine feeling that we’ve always loved,” Horsting said, while taking on “feminine proportions.” (Though it should be noted that the daywear in this collection doesn’t look especially gendered.) When the “stuffing” comes out, sharp angles become folds. The result is thrilling silhouettes that stand out (in all ways) from the prevalent school of wardrobe dressing.
