Viktor & Rolf Haute Couture’s Spring/Summer 2025 presentation proves that radical creativity does not require complexity. Dutch designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren transformed a beige trench coat, white shirt and navy trousers-all in textured silk gazar-into 24 different looks, fusing couture tradition with playful futurism.
Held at the historic Westin Hotel, once home to Yves Saint Laurent shows, the collection leaned toward brevity. An AI-generated voice recited the same three descriptors for each outfit, echoing Karl Lagerfeld‘s decades-old comment about “plugging into Chanel mode.” But the repetition underscored a paradox: while technology may inspire uniformity, human hands create the unexpected.
Silk gazar, a fabric with roots in Balenciaga’s 1960s innovations, became the designers’ muse. Known for its sculptural stiffness, the material curled, puffed, and cascaded under meticulous couture techniques. A trench coat reappeared as an opera-length coat adorned with knotted bows, while tailored shirts stretched into mullet gowns or crisp shirtdresses. Pants disappeared beneath ruffled bloomers or were slimmed to near invisibility. Even a Victorian doll carried by one model wore a miniature trench coat – a tongue-in-cheek nod to the endless adaptability of craftsmanship.
The duo’s familiarity with gazar, first explored in their 1999 collection, allowed for bold experimentation. Volumes vacillated between controlled crumpling and baroque exaggeration. Shoulders rose above the ears; hems ballooned into lantern shapes. Custom brown Louboutins and vintage jewels punctuated the simplicity of the core palette, balancing restraint with grandeur.
What resonated most was the collection’s quiet rebellion against the perceived dominance of AI. “The human mind remains the ultimate prompt,” Snoeren observed backstage. Technology framed the concept, but hands-on artistry drove the execution. Customers drawn to Viktor & Rolf’s “smart couture” know this-why else flock to tactile detail when screens flatten nuance?
In the midst of a menswear season fixated on classics, this show revived a truth: reinvention thrives within limits. Three garments, one fabric, infinite ingenuity. Spring/Summer 2025 need not scream.
©Photo: Viktor & Rolf