‘Surreal’ and Upside-Down Haute Couture at Paris Fashion Week
During Paris Haute Couture Week, fashion enthusiasts have been paying close attention to the latest high-end trends on the runway and in street style. However, one show in particular has stood out for its unique approach to fashion.
Viktor & Rolf presented a collection of models dressed in colorful, pastel-toned gowns reminiscent of 1950s and ’60s Barbie dolls, complete with bouffant updos, baby bangs, dark roots, and dramatic cat-eye makeup.
But as the show progressed, it appeared as if the models began to detach themselves from the dresses, which created a surreal and thought-provoking display.
The designers explained that the inverted ballgowns were meant to question and manipulate the “singular and narrowly defined ‘fashion ideal'” and to “antagonize, alienate, and free itself from the body in a surreal way.” Overall, the collection set a tone for a stereotypical vision of haute couture as a dreamy, anachronistic embodiment of femininity.