VPlastic and Paris Fashion Week Couture: there have been stranger partnerships, but Melissa Shoes’ collaboration with Viktor&Rolf certainly paired with aplomb. 

With Viktor&Rolf’s collection inspired by childhood memories of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ and Denise Holly Hobbie-Ulinskas’ eponymous 1970’s illustration character, Viktor&Rolf took a turn back to the archive for their fabric swatches, lending the collection a looser air: more romantic, more nostalgic.

Teamed with classic Melissa sandals in delicate shades of powder blue, white and pink, and bags imitating woven lace, Viktor&Rolf took a brave partnership and made it feel effortless.

Looking at the collection and discussing their decision to explore the archive, the symbolism of consideration for this season’s design process was at the helm. Historically, the technique of patchwork originated from frugal necessity: old clothes were cut up in patches and sewn back together in decorative patterns, in order to be used again. By reusing their high-end couture fabric samples in this way, Viktor&Rolf create a surreal paradox that underlines the beauty of imperfection. This collection highlights the creative principle of conscious design. Doing more with less; constraints providing a steppingstone for meaningful creation.

Their collaboration with Melissa Shoes further implied the importance of creative partnerships through working together, specialisation, and a relaxed nostalgia that reflected on past skills and how they can be integrated into today’s technological advances.

With Melissa shoes made from their signature vegan Melflex, and Viktor&Rolf’s emphasis on consciousness design, a deeper thoughtfulness and responsibility were takeaways from this collaboration at couture season.

Tags: Couture Fashion Week, Fashion, Viktor & Rolf

To tell the story of the last forty years of fashion is no mean feat. And yet, in Histoire Idéale de la Mode Contempraine at Les Arts Décoratifs in Paris, curator Olivier Salliard has done just that, conveying fashion’s changing moods, trends and attitudes with ease. Now in its second instalment, Les Années 1990-2000, the show is a master class in display. Mirrors guide the eye from collar to cuff, and onto the next collection, garments float on mid-air mannequins and captions take the form of labelled leaves of translucent paper artfully strewn across the museum floor.

Arranged via aesthetic rather than chronology, viewers move from Belgian deconstruction and Japanese minimalism, to Martine Sitbon’s grunge. The first instalment of the exhibition (which is now closed) kicked off with Yves Saint Laurent’s 1971 collection ‘Liberation’, commemorating the birth of pret-a-porter. Les Années 1990-2000 goes on to explore the rise – and delightful abandonment – of function in fashion. Exit through the gift shop via the drama of Alexander McQueen and Viktor & Rolf.

Histoire Idéale de la Mode Contempraine, vol. II: Les Années 1990-2000 is at Les Arts Décoratifs, Paris until 8th May 2011
lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Images courtesy of Guy Marineau and Philippe Brazil. Words by Sarah Smith

Tags: Alexander Mcqueen, Les Années 1990-2000, Les Arts Décoratifs, Martine Sitbon, Sarah Smith, Viktor & Rolf, Yves Saint Laurent