Viktor & Rolf
The Viktor & Rolf bridal gowns are sophisticated, artful, and bold all at the same time offering alluring silhouettes spruced up with the design duo’s signature embellishments.
The Viktor & Rolf bridal gowns are sophisticated, artful, and bold all at the same time offering alluring silhouettes spruced up with the design duo’s signature embellishments.
You might have seen millions of beautiful gorgeous women (including ramp models) so far but they all have nothing on a bride walking the aisle in a scintillating gown holding a pretty bouquet brimming with fresh blooms leaving her traces behind with a sweeping veil. On their big day, they can outshine even angels and fairies from the heavens! Brides look beautiful, no matter what size they are or what skin tone or kind of hair they have. And the credit goes to the wedding dress they choose! If you are a soon-to-be bride, slipping into a designer wedding dress might be your dream too like many brides around the world. With tons of second-hand designer wedding dress sellers at your disposal exchanging nuptials in a designer bridal gown is not a dream that’s unachievable anymore.
Congrats on your upcoming wedding! We as your virtual bridal fairy godmother are here to help you take a plunge into the joy of wedding shopping online. If you are living under the rock, Borrowing Magnolia is one of the most renowned online bridal marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers of the new, sample, and used wedding dresses from popular bridal gown designers. We help brides from all walks of life find their dream wedding dress at a jaw-dropping price. Whether it’s a low-key lurex jumpsuit or an extravagant Volant Flower A-Line strapless dress with satin bodice and organza ruffle flower skirt. We are dedicating this page to the brides who are Viktor & Rolf stans and looking for second-hand Viktor & Rolf wedding dresses at great prices. Let’s explore why brides choose to be a Viktor & Rolf bride:
The fashion artists, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren first crossed each other’s path while studying at the Arnhem Academy of Art and Design in 1989. After completing their graduation in 1992, the pair began working together and relocated to Paris. Initially, Viktor & Rolf were avoided by the fashion industry, however, the designers were well received by the art world. Subsequently, art institutions such as the Groninger Museum began to acquire garments from the designers. The Initial collections of the duo showcased the exorbitant silhouettes, playful use of materials, and irreverent concepts the designers would come to be known for. They directed their artistic skills to ready-to-wear collections after launching their company logo i.e. a wax seal bearing the monogram V&R in 2000. Their women’s line and the Menswear collection that was launched in 2003 lived together until 2009. In addition to these collections, Viktor & Rolf launched two separate perfumes for both genders: the female fragrance Flowerbomb and the male fragrance Antidote in 2004 and 2005 respectively. In the quest of the limits of wearability, function, and form, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren ceased ready-to-wear production and headed back once more to haute couture in 2015.
After a thirteen-year hiatus from creating haute couture, Viktor & Rolf re-established themselves with the Zen Garden collection (Autumn/Winter 2013-14) and have been going great ever since. For over two decades Viktor & Rolf have sought to challenge preconceptions of fashion, and bridge the gap between fashion and art. Known for their avant-garde gowns and couture-inspired creations, Viktor and Rolf have designed both haute couture and ready-to-wear collections. These rebellious designers are the perfect match for our modern-day bride who is looking for a brand new Viktor & Rolf bridal gown and is ready to spend between $3,000 and $6,500 on it. The gowns are not a far-away dream for budget-savvy brides as well if they are happy to buy second-hand Viktor & Rolf bridal gowns. Buying pre-owned Viktor & Rolf bridal gowns will not only give the brides joy of owning a dress of their dreams at affordable prices but also give them a chance to incorporate something old and something borrowed in one fell swoop without adding to the trail of carbon footprints. Plus the extra money you save by buying preowned bridal gowns or pre-loved dresses for your bridal party will open doors to endless opportunities like planning an engagement session or big honeymoon at your favorite destination. Even if wearing a dress that has been worn by someone else doesn’t appeal to you, you still can make a difference by selling your expensive designer bridal dress and bridal jewelry on our website and make a few bucks while bringing smiles to the face of other brides-to-be. Look for the Viktor & Rolf resale and Viktor & Rolf wedding gowns for sale options to nail the best price.
The Dutch saying, “Doe normaal, dan ben je al gek genoeg” (literally, just be normal, then you are crazy enough) sheds light on the work of the team of world-renowned fashion designers: Viktor & Rolf. The duo is renowned for its avant-garde designs, which are heavily inspired by theatrical and performative fashion runways. Viktor & Rolf brought an intellectual approach to the fashion process via art. They pursued haute couture because they found it to be "the most sublime" aspect of fashion. During their exciting journey to the place in the fashion world where they are today, they collaborated with several world-renowned fashion entities.
Dutch fashion nerds Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren joined hands with award-winning bridal designer Justin Alexander to create a thrilling bridal fashion collaboration for fall 2017 retailing: Viktor&Rolf Mariage.
The fashion media's attraction to their exaggerated silhouettes and noteworthy runway performances has always played an integral role in the shaping of the Viktor & Rolf brand identity. With no advertising campaigns, no self-standing boutiques, and no mass-produced clothes to sell, their early relationship with the public depended heavily on the generous amounts of press coverage they received each season. (Close collaborations with photography teams Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, as well as Anouschka Blommers and Niels Schumm, also helped further their vision.) The media's acknowledgment of Viktor & Rolf as a leading avant-garde haute couture label was instrumental to the commercial success of their ready-to-wear line. Their first collection sold immediately to sixty stores the world over during its launch in February 2000.
Viktor and Rolf continue to push the boundaries of fashion in ready-to-wear by using the catwalk as a stage for performance art. Models were cast as walking shadows, for example, in their "Black Hole" collection (fall/winter 2001-2002) when they were covered head-to-toe in black silhouettes and black makeup. Two years later (fall/winter 2003-2004) their models appeared as fair-skinned, red-haired clones of the actress Tilda Swinton.
Viktor & Rolf’s collaboration with Swiss premium underwear brand Calida made its debut at Berlin trade show Neonyt last week. The exclusive collection, titled ‘We want a better world’, is 100% compostable and embraces a unique Cradle to Cradle Certified approach to design. “The goal of the collaboration is to show that high fashion and sustainability can work together perfectly. Sustainability doesn’t have to be at the expense of design, and high fashion and the highest sustainability standards are not mutually exclusive,” said Patricia Schölly, PR Manager at Calida, at the brand’s stand in hangar 4. The message ‘We want a better world’ is inspired by Viktor & Rolf’s Fashion Statements collection, and defines the philosophy behind the collaboration. The collection featured loungewear and sleepwear for men and women, with prints and color combinations drawing inspiration from vintage 1970s PJ styles. Globes, roses, and trees appear throughout across styles and product categories. “Viktor & Rolf’s DNA is also reflected in the design. The ruffle T-shirts and prints are typical of the brand,” Schölly continued.
The world-famous fashion house has produced both ready-to-wear and haute couture fashion lines. Below we have compiled some of Viktor and Rolf collections in both the lines that received huge success:
Early Haute Couture Collections: Hyeres (1993); L’Hiver de l’Amour (1995); L’Apparence du; Vide (1995); Launch (1996); First Couture (Spring/Summer 1998); Atomic Bomb (Autumn/Winter 1998-99); Black Light (Spring/Summer 1999); Russian Doll (Autumn/Winter 1999-00); Bells (Autumn/Winter 2000-01).
Ready-to-wear Collections: Stars & Stripes (Autumn/Winter 2000-01); There’s No Business Like Show Business (Spring/Summer 2001); Black Hole (Autumn/Winter 2001-02); White (Spring/Summer 2002); Love Live the Immaterial (Bluescreen) (Autumn/Winter 2002-03); Flowers (Spring/Summer 2003); One Woman Show (Autumn/Winter 2003-04); ‘Monsieur’ (Autumn/Winter 2003-4); The Red Shoes (Spring/Summer 2004); The Hunt (Autumn/Winter 2004-05); ‘Monsieur’ (Autumn/Winter 2004-05); Flowerbomb (Spring/Summer 2005); ‘Monsieur’ (Spring/Summer 2005); Bedtime Story (Autumn/Winter 2005-06); ‘Monsieur’ (Autumn/Winter 2005-06); Upside Down (Spring/Summer 2006); ‘Monsieur’ (Spring/Summer 2006); Silver (Autumn/Winter 2006-07); ‘Monsieur’ (Autumn/Winter 2006-07); Ballroom (Spring/Summer 2007); ‘Monsieur’ (Spring/Summer 2007); The Fashion; Show (Autumn/Winter 2007-08); ‘Monsieur’ (Autumn/Winter 2007-08); Harlequin (Spring/Summer 2008); ‘Monsieur’ (Spring/Summer 2008); NO (Autumn/Winter 2008-09); ‘Monsieur’ (Autumn 2008); ‘Monsieur’ (Spring 2009); Shalom (Spring/Summer 2009); Cutting; Edge Couture (Spring/Summer 2010); Glamour Factory (Autumn/Winter 2010-11).
The Early Experiments
The very first collection of Viktor & Rolf bagged the grand prize at the Salon européen des Jeunes stylists (1993), a fashion festival in the southern French city of Hyères. When deconstruction was the trend, Viktor & Rolf chose to reconstruct by piling layers of men's button-down shirts to create ball gowns. The following year they hung flashy gold garments decked up with gigantic ribbons and unreasonable adornments from the ceiling in their installation L'Apparence du vide (1994) at the Galerie Patricia Dorfman, Paris, which sought to critique the aura and hype surrounding fashion. In another experiment, sleek marketing for Viktor & Rolf, le parfum (1996) served to critique the superficial, banal beauty of fragrance advertising. The neatly packaged, limited-edition (2,500) perfume bottles were deliberately designed so that they could not be opened. The bottles sold out at the Parisian boutique Colette. In Launch (1996), presented at the Torch Gallery in Amsterdam, Viktor & Rolf's dream world of the fashion process was realized on a small scale. With a doll-sized runway, sketch and draping session, and photoshoot set-up, "We created the ultimate goals we wanted to achieve in fashion (but felt unable to). These miniatures represented some of the most emblematic situations in the fashion we wanted to become reality", they explained in a personal interview on 23 December 1999.
Over the past 25 years, Viktor & Rolf have won hands down the heart of the fashion world with their particular mix of cool irony and surreal beauty. Let’s take you through their success story:
The duo launched their first collection in 1993. Post that they presented their second collection- "Winter of Love" in 1994 at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. After their third collection in 1994, they came up with their photographic collection in 1995. In 1996 the duo introduced Prêt-á-Porter Catalogue, launched Viktor & Rolf Le Parfum and performed Torch Gallery installation in Amsterdam, and continued developing fashion trends as art exhibitions. Further in the year 1998, the designer pair exhibited their collection in Groninger Museum. It was 2000 when their designs turned more towards ready-to-wear. The brand received so much recognition, love, and awards: International Festival of Hyeres, 1993; ANDAM, 1994. Exhibitions: Visionaire Gallery, SoHo, 1999; Groninger Museum, Netherlands, 2001 to name a few. Here are some recent most V&R collections we love:
'Haute Fantaisie': Viktor & Rolf Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2021: For their Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2021 collection, Viktor&Rolf proposed a 'Couture Rave': an imaginary show inspired by functions that were and functions to come when the real-time catwalk shows were not happening due to coronavirus pandemic. While aiming to provide a buoyant escape into fantasy, both collection and presentation also have a valiant edge. Traditionally 'beautiful' couture references are put into a raw, young context. Haute Couture meets underground parties. The mood is irreverent and almost casual but always elegant: an antidote to doom scrolling.
The surprise for spring 2021 is the new emphasis on softer, fuss-free silhouettes, like an A-line gown with an abbreviated train or a strapless, away-from-the-body dress with a knotted bodice. A single-sleeve ivory caftan was the standout, unadorned but for a small bow at the neckline. Those drapey, unstructured lines aren’t the norm chez V&R; the duo’s signatures are more sculptural, typically in the form of molded ball skirts, folded ruffles, 3D flowers, and “sugary” embellishments, as Snoeren called them. “We’ve struggled a bit with the fluid (silhouettes), but for some women, they’re a must,” he said. V&R purists won’t be lacking for options either; a satin strapless gown came with a new twist on the duo’s sliced-skirt detail; trimmed with flower petals, it was cut away to reveal soft, airy tulle underneath.
The Viktor & Rolf Mariage Collection: After setting a benchmark in designing high fashion, rule-breaking gowns the duo stunned the fashionista brides with their spectacular entry in the world of bridal the namesake Mariage collection this year! The sophisticated glam collection contains dazzling silhouettes embellished with the design duo’s signature elements including 3D flowers, graphic bows, and bold embroideries. The craftsmanship is unparalleled and the feel of these gowns on the body is unmistakably luxurious. Viktor&Rolf Mariage represents Viktor&Rolf’s artistic interpretation of bridalwear, adhering to the three key brand pillars: Unexpected Elegance, Conceptual Glamor, and Provocative Couture. Utilizing the French pronunciation of ‘Mariage,’ the collection name pays homage to the brand’s Parisian fashion home whilst highlighting Viktor&Rolf’s deeply rooted fashion heritage as an Haute Couture Maison. Bridalwear has been a red thread throughout Maison’s collections, most notably as the focus of Viktor&Rolf’s H&M collaboration in 2006 and for the custom wedding dress designed for Princess Mable of Orange-Nassau. Boasting an individual, autonomous character, the elegant mix of timeless silhouettes run the gamut from larger-than-life ball gowns with exquisite 3D floral appliqués and eco-friendly materials to playful mini dresses with allover beading and sheath dresses with unexpected bow details. Dramatic high-low hemlines, voluminous skirts, modern minis, and exquisitely layered tulle made to the standouts.
Viktor & Rolf’s 2020 Haute Couture Collection: ‘Couture in the time of coronavirus’ was the truth behind Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren’s namesake couture collection. Think bathrobe-inspired gowns meant to be worn at home and voluminous coats that ensure social-distancing measures are followed. With an intention to represent pandemic-related emotional states, the Dutch designer duo smartly created three mini wardrobes featuring a negligee, dressing gown, and coat. The collection consisted of nine intricate creations that ranged from a storm cloud slip dress to the ‘halo of hearts’ confection. All with Viktor & Rolf’s famous tongue-in-cheek humor.
Latex couture pieces of the Viktor & Rolf Bonbon collection scream of the duo’s interest in discovering the point at which skin and clothing meet. The fluid materiality of latex (not commonly used in high fashion) juxtaposed with the light color palette resulted in an almost ethereal and angelic collection. The pieces were created seamlessly and designed to appear and feel like a second skin. To illustrate a chimera of depth stylistic birds, bows and ribbons were hand-painted onto the latex, in a trompé-l'œil technique. The Bonbon collection was modeled by ballerinas en-pointe.
Red Carpet Dressing (Autumn/Winter 2014-15)
Portrayed as a "surrealist commentary," Viktor & Rolf's collection Red Carpet Dressing explored the reciprocal relationship between celebrity and designer. The duo humorously exploited the concept of dressing for the red carpet by designing 22 couture gowns from the red carpet. Elegant high fashion pieces were made from unassuming rough and rigid carpet. The designs incorporated animal skin patterns made from the same material and sewn onto the base. The monochromatic palette gave primary focus to the design and pattern-making techniques, which recalled primitive knotted constructions and classic couture styles. Viktor & Rolf again used the haute couture platform to comment on the fashion industry and contemporary culture.
Van Gogh Girls (Spring/Summer 2015)
Inspired by the raw energy of Vincent van Gogh’s exuberant depiction of the rural countryside, this full-of-beans V&R collection took the fashion industry by storm. Aptly named after the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, the evocative colors and black graphic outlines present throughout the garment in the Viktor&Rolf’s Spring/Summer 2015 Haute Couture Collection reminds us of his work. The momentum and growth ideas were the focal points in the creations. To visualize the central concept, Viktor & Rolf adopted the quintessential summer outfit of a floral sundress, flip flops, and a straw dress, and transformed the imagery into three-dimensional sculptural pieces. The expressive landscapes of Vincent Van Gogh offered the visual cues for giant three-dimensional fabric flowers and enormous hats made of straw in Dutch fashion house Viktor & Rolf Spring Summer 2015 haute-couture collection. The collection escalated from a simplistic baby doll silhouette into extravagant couture pieces. Floral outlines evolved into flirty 3D blooms, as simple straw hats extended laterally to connect with the pleated dresses. Van Gogh Girls collection was not only an exercise in exaggerating forms and imagery but additionally flaunted the close bonding between artists and fashion designers.
Wearable Art (Autumn/Winter 2015-16)
The fluid link between art and fashion was perhaps most clearly portrayed with the Wearable Art haute couture collection. Twenty models, dressed in simple denim artist's smocks, walked the runway donning what looked to be oil paintings. Designed to mimic the imagery of classical paintings with gilded frames, the collection included cloaks, dresses, and skirts. Through painterly illusion and construction, Viktor & Rolf transformed framed paintings into haute couture garments, and then back to paintings. During the display, the designers removed five of the garments from the models and hung them back on a white wall. The collection provoked public conversation as to the definition of art mediums.
Vagabonds (Autumn/Winter 2016-17)
In 2016, Viktor & Rolf uncovered their latest collection: Vagabonds by entwining recycling with haute couture. Aimed at conscious designing, Viktor & Rolf manifested a collection made entirely from discarded materials from their atelier by utilizing haute couture techniques. Strips of fabric were braided, offshoots of tulle were sewn together, and buttons were clustered as embellishment. Many outfits contain elements from Viktor & Rolf’s earlier designs and the pair scoured their back catalog for inspiration, tearing apart older clothes and then weaving them together. And the result was spectacular! Overall the garments expressed the artistic possibilities of recycling. The collection was described as "a wondrous feat of conflating rag rugs to riches." Whilst still defined as haute couture, Vagabonds was noted to be a more wearable collection from the duo, offering the public a practical display of eco-friendly haute couture. The designs looked ad-hoc or improvised, mirroring handwoven clothing that was produced out of necessity. This ‘primitive’ aesthetic represented the designer’s unique sense of nostalgia, and coincidentally, their maturity’s relationship with the past.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Spring/Summer 2017)
Imperfection was the central concept of Viktor & Rolf’s most recent haute couture collection. Recalling the message of recycling from the Vagabonds, Boulevard of Broken Dreams pairs contrasting patterned fabric with a fantastical and delicate color palette. The recycled layers appear almost like shards of glass placed onto Viktor & Rolf’s signature exaggerated couture forms. The designers chose to consciously exploit such imperfections, following the Japanese principle of Kintsugi by gilding faults and seams in gold. The aesthetic and intention of the collection were summarised by critic Suzy Menkes: "The patchwork of grandeur was as pretty in its choice of color as it was in the feminine shapes. And if recycling could be this elegant, maybe it could draw more fashion people to the party."
Whether you are exchanging vows on Princess Cruises with blue waters around as far as the eyes can see or hosting a mountain-esque wedding at the Aspen Mountain Club in Aspen overlooking the snow-covered Aspen Mountain views or tying the knot under the rainbow at the Holland Lake Lodge in Condon, Montana. Whether you are sharing your first look at the Minnesota Zoo or in Chicago's Milton Lee Olive Park with the breathtaking Chicago skyline in the backdrop, the gown that you wear as a bride is a focal point in your wedding couple photos. By gliding into artwork done by Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren on your big day, you are sure to give the ramp models and celebs a run for their money. And Borrowing Magnolia will make sure that you don’t break the bank to exchange nuptials in your favorite Viktor & Rolf bridal gown!
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