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Viktor & Rolf

PARIS, January 29, 2007
By Tim Blanks
"Cosmopolocal," the name that Viktor & Rolf gave their latest collection, suggested some kind of dialogue between big-city slick and small-town folksy. The duo clarified the relationship with the way they chose to present the clothes. Everything was paired with traditional Dutch clogs, and bright yellow (the traditional color of those clogs) was the single cartoony accent. Folklore meets pop—that more or less defined the collection. Yellow was used to pipe jackets, frame pockets, color a jean jacket or trench in a soft cotton cashmere. T-shirts had a Lichtenstein-like "POW!" and a Dutch artisanal pleating technique created patchwork shirts that were also reminiscent of Lichtenstein's rising-sun images. The notion of present cross-referencing past reached some kind of crazy apotheosis with a huge folkloric belt buckle that Rocky Balboa would surely relate to, and the same element of everyday heroism informed a double-breasted, cable-stitched cardigan that might appeal to your typical suburban superdad.

But the suburbs are scarcely where Viktor & Rolf's hearts lie. As arch illusionists, they have proved themselves ideally suited to dress the magic men of America's showplace, Las Vegas. This collection highlighted a chevron lightning print (in Lichtenstein's lexicon, it would be a total "ZAP!") that, as a three-piece silk tux, wouldn't look out of place on any magician worth his warm-up fee. Yellow may well be the shade of Dutch clogs, but it is also the color of Dutch cheese.

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