From the 1999 autumn/winter couture collection turned model Maggie Rizer into a beautiful "Russian doll", to the 2017 autumn/winter couture collection made models wear huge doll headdresses, the enthusiasm for dolls, It vaguely reflects the naive fascination of Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren with fashion.

In this "Viktor&Rolf: Meta Fashion!" In the exhibition, the "House of Dolls" exhibition area will focus on displaying 24 sets of fashion doll works, which is also the first appearance of "them" in China.

In 2008, The exhibition "The House of Viktor&Rolf" was held to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the brand. During the preparation process, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren had the idea that they wanted to build the past achievements into a whole in some form. Thus began the ceramic doll production, which continues to this day, from each season of the show to select one or two of the most representative shapes, made into a 60cm high doll, although it seems to be a miniature version of real clothing, but its exquisite level is comparable to sculpture, often more laborious than making a show clothing.

"Although they are dolls, they are not to be played with, but to be watched, to freeze time." Fashion is fleeting, but we want to make it timeless." Viktor explained to us.

When it comes to the so-called "inspiration" question, they will be very direct and tell people that movies rarely inspire themselves.

And many times, for the seemingly "unexpected" presentation, the starting point is just their casual imagination: when they feel suffocated by the rhythm of the ready-to-wear world, "No" series directly constructs the letter in the form of three-dimensional clothing; When people pay too much attention to the stars' red carpet clothes, they think about what the effect would be if the red carpet was used as fashion; Of course, there is also the famous "Wearable Art" series, which stems from their reflection after focusing on the world of couture - "If couture is considered an art, can art be worn directly on the body?"

The title of Asia's first exhibition, MetaFashion, is hard not to think of the current buzzword, Metaverse.

In fact, MetaFashion got its name from a 1995 review in Artforum magazine: "Viktor&Rolf's fashion is more properly a kind of 'meta-fashion', their work is the deconstruction and reinvention of the concept of fashion."

From Viktor's point of view: "What we are trying to convey is a state of reading fashion outside the perspective of fashion." This relationship with fashion is a theme that runs through our work."

Not only from a perspective outside of fashion, but also an issue that coexists with today's society, the "Fashion and Responsibility" room of this exhibition focuses on Viktor&Rolf's concept of sustainable creation.

"It's like exploring a way of thinking and showing more essential ideas about sustainability." For the Fall/Winter 2016 haute couture collection, for example, we did not use any new fabrics, but found suitable fabrics from the stock to mix and match, including from 20 years ago, but also just used. The pieces from the past come together and become a new existence, and that's what it means to create."

Since the Fall/Winter 2016 Haute couture collection, Viktor&Rolf has tried to recombine the various materials and fabrics accumulated since the beginning of the line - buttons into nails, raw edges instead of tassels (fall/Winter 2016 Haute Couture); An upcycle of vintage clothing inspired by Japanese "Kinizi" craft (Spring/Summer 2017 Haute Couture); Or the natural fiber fabric and natural dyeing method developed in special collaboration with Dutch textile artist Claudy Jongstra (Autumn/Winter 2019 Haute Couture), so that the most simple materials and the most extreme high precision technology collision, to achieve what Viktor said "a new existence".

Clearly, it is difficult for everyone to not be attracted by the exaggerated visual impact of Viktor&Rolf's collection at first sight, especially when the "Fashion Statement" of the Spring/Summer 2019 haute couture collection is decorated with the slogan taken from the social network, and the autumn/Winter 2021 Haute Couture collection is decorated with the ostentation of artificial gems.

Viktor also revealed the thinking behind these interesting designs: "We sometimes feel that there is a disconnect between the images that circulate online and the physical objects that carry craft and time."

Rolf added: "I've always felt as if our work exists in the digital world - even though it's presented as couture in Paris, most of the world sees it online."

Next year is the 30th anniversary of Viktor&Rolf, and Viktor&Rolf's first exhibition in Asia will be officially opened tomorrow, with more than 80 heavyweight works.

According to Pooky Lee, the exhibition's curator, "Their work has been using fashion to comment on and interpret fashion as a cultural and social phenomenon, and has greatly expanded the public's understanding of clothing design, the human body, identity and other issues."

Perhaps this is the reason why Viktor&Rolf has been able to remain unique in the fashion world, whether in the light of the visual or profound meaning, everyone has something to gain from their own perspective.