Just when you thought you’d seen it all at Paris Fashion Week, we give you the ‘upside-down gown’ Having been given lion head dresses only last week.
Dutch avant-garde designers Viktor and Rolf pushed the boundaries of their silhouettes in their Paris Haute Couture Week 2023 show at the Hôtel Intercontinental.
Proceedings began with a model walking in a white floor-length gown with a stiff tulle skirt and a sequinned bodice. Just a couple of looks later, a similar dress that appeared to be completely detached from the model’s torso was walked down the runway in front of her.
After that, dresses were worn at all imaginable angles. One model had the bodice sticking up next to her head, with the skirt crossing her body, while another dress was worn horizontally, with the bodice in front and the skirt in back, and the model’s body inserted into a hole in the middle.
Then came the star of the show – a blue dress that was flipped completely upside down. The gravity-defying skirt was entirely covering the poor model’s face, who somehow managed to walk without falling or walking into the front row.
The collection represents impressive design feats to be sure, but it’s not exactly the kind of thing one can wear… anywhere really. But that’s really not the point of Haute Couture Week, is it?
After the show, the designers explained: ‘It’s an absurd take on the stereotype of a certain type of femininity – a classic silhouette from history, reinterpreted for today.’
Sitting front row, Doja Cat, wearing false eyelashes as brows, a moustache and a goatee, nodded thoughtfully as the looks were shown.
I love this crazy fashion departure from the norm. Long live couture!
