I saw the photos of this Viktor & Rolf collection first, and thought, “Is this an ode to one MASSIVE shrug?” As in, “How is the world still this deep in the shit? SHRUG.” Then I read this in WWD:
“I think we started thinking about Dracula, [especially] the old Hollywood film version, because it’s a powerful symbol of fear of change in society and it felt appropriate at this moment,” [Viktor] Horsting said backstage.
The cinematic depiction of the vampire, ensconced in a too-tight suit that pulled the body into a permanent shrug made them think back to one of the silhouettes from their very first couture collection and “its shoulders up to here,” as the designer put it, gesturing somewhere around his ear.
Well! Mission accomplished. I definitely got “shoulders up to here” from this. But somehow, this also feels very restrained? When you considering some of Viktor & Rolf’s past collections, it’s almost shocking they didn’t send out a giant garment with “I VANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOOOD” on it and/or photos of famous vampires, like Gary Oldman’s Dracula, or R. Pattz’s Edward Cullen, or Mark Anthony’s Mark Anthony.
