Viktor & Rolf

Viktor Horsting born in 1969 & Rolf Snoeren also born 1969 met while studying fashion at the Arnhem Academy of Art and Design in the Netherlands. After graduation they began working together and relocated to Paris in 1993 to launch their careers. Their first collection was launched in 1993 'Hyères' based on distortion, reconstruction and layering. The subsequent presentation of four collections in experimental art spaces led them in 1998 to show their first Haute Couture collection of the spring and summer of 1998.

Viktor & Rolf returned to ready-to-wear in 2000, with 'Stars and Stripes' in the autumn and winter 2000-01. The menswear line 'Monsieur' was added in 2003. The Viktor & Rolf range has since grown to include shoes, accessories and eyewear.

In addition to their own lines, Viktor & Rolf have collaborated with a number of other well known brands including Samsonite in 2009 with whom they produced a luggage line and Shu Uemura in 2008 for a range of couture false eyelashes.

With the desire to expand, in 2008 Viktor & Rolf entered into a partnership with Italian clothing mogul Renzo Rosso, allowing the company to develop new product ranges, extend distribution and open further boutiques.

Viktor & Rolf gained attention for their artistic, concept driven catwalk presentations. In a show called "Babushka" they dressed a model in layer upon layer of couture dresses, piled on top of one another. In their 2007 collection, each model wore scaffolding with lights and music, carrying their own fashion show as it were. For the presentation of their first menswear collection, they themselves modelled the clothes, changing outfits on the stage.

Viktor & Rolf’s first fragrance ‘Flowerbomb’ was released in collaboration with L’Oreal in 2005. This partnership marked the French cosmetics companies’ first collaboration with a fashion designer for seventeen years, when they worked with Georgio Armani. Viktor & Rolf invented the name, created the fragrance and were given creative freedom to design the grenade shaped bottle and gift wrap printed packaging. Flowerbomb’s official launch coincided with the collection of the same name in the spring and summer of 2005. Several variations of the fragrance and packaging have been released since including a lighter summer version and Flowerbomb Extreme. ‘Petite Flowerbomb’, a travel sized version was released 2009.

‘Antidote’ the first fragrance for men was released in 2006. Like Flowerbomb, Antidote’s launch accompanied a fashion collection ‘Ballroom’ of the spring and summer 2007. Of the fragrance, Viktor & Rolf state it is "all about the power of transformation, the power of every individual to turn anything into something positive”.

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