Nowness.com takes us inside designer Viktor & Rolf’s Amsterdam atelier for an intimate look at the designing partners studio life.
Viktor & Rolf have been compared to Gilbert & George, and it’s an association that rings true: they’re fashion-world performance artists, living embodiments of their wildly conceptual designs. The designers’ daily preoccupations behind-closed-doors are more often than not enshrined in mystery, but NOWNESS contributor Marcus Gaab ventured to their historic Amsterdam mansion-cum-atelier to see them break a sweat practicing yoga, and treat us to a whimsical rendition of “Babooshka” by their favorite chanteuse, Kate Bush. “Everything you see in the film is based on their daily routines,” says the director, who included a tongue-in-cheek nod to the twins from The Shining. The Dutch wunderkinds paused to answer some pressing questions below.
“ Our studio house was the mayor’s house in the 17th century, Amsterdam’s golden age. It’s said to be haunted”
What is your claim to fame?
Viktor & Rolf: Conceptual glamour.What is the mansion’s most marked characteristic?
V&R: Our studio house was the mayor’s house in the 17th century, Amsterdam’s golden age. It’s said to be haunted.What time is tea served?
V&R: Tea is on our desk all day long; no milk, no sugar. Viktor prefers coffee, black.What’s on your to-do list?
V&R: The Fall/Winter collection. Making a haute couture show for January, working on a new project with L’Oréal and enjoying the moment.Who is your biggest fan?
V&R: Cathy Horyn.What is your favorite Kate Bush look (and song lyric)?
V&R: Kate Bush in her video of “The Dreaming”. It’s still sensational. Favorite lyric: Take your shoes off and throw them in the lake and you will be two steps on the water.Tell us about your dachshund?
V&R: She is called Little Swan, or zwaantje in Dutch. She is almost 12 years old; her mother was a world champion.What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
V&R: Our friendship.
