The duo of Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have renewed their contracts for a further five years as the creative directors of the fashion house they founded.
The designers and OTB Group – the main holding company of Italian fashion entrepreneur Renzo Rosso, which controls the Dutch fashion house – broke the news in a joint statement released on Monday.
Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren – OTB Group
Based in Amsterdam, Viktor & Rolf founded their Haute Couture maison in 1993. They became part of the OTB Group in 2008.
“Viktor and Rolf are two unique voices in the world of international fashion, couturiers who have revolutionized the very concept of Haute Couture, and everything they do is art. I am very happy to continue the collaboration with them, their talent will continue to inspire and amaze the fashion world,” said Rosso, Chairman and founder of the OTB Group.
Added Horsting and Snoeren: “Within an ever-changing fashion landscape of brands and designers, we are proud to continue our singular artistic path of 30 plus years.”
Despite reports of occasional friction between the duo and the OTB Group due to designers’ hyper conceptual approach, the renewal was not unexpected. However, it comes in the wake of the departure from the OTB Group’s most acclaimed designer John Galliano, who left Maison Margiela after almost a decade in the autumn. Departing despite staging the most acclaimed couture show in fashion this past decade in January 2024.
With Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, their maison became a one-of-a-kind success in the world of Haute Couture, creating collections that represent various nuances and forms of their artistic expression.
In the release, OTB Group lauded the duo’s constant exploration of “the borderland between art and fashion, constantly reinventing and reshaping the very concept of Haute Couture.”
Their memorable collections include Haute Couture Spring Summer 2019 – Fashion Statements, entirely made of colored tulle; Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 – Surreal Shoulder, characterized by extreme, distorted, and elongated silhouettes. While Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 – Late Stage Capitalism Waltz, defied the laws of gravity with surrealist garments worn upside down, sideways, perpendicularly, and away from the body; and Haute Couture Spring Summer 2024 – Scissorhands, was a collection born to explore the creative and decorative possibilities of a pair of tailor’s scissors.
While with OTB, Viktor & Rolf have also developed women’s collections of demi-couture inspiration; bridalwear with Viktor & Rolf Marriage; and eyewear collections with Viktor & Rolf Vision.
The duo have also built a highly successful fragrance business with a licensing agreement with L’Oréal Luxe, boasting such as worldwide bestsellers as Flowerbomb, Spicebomb and Good Fortune.
The vision and the artistic creations of Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have been celebrated in countless international exhibitions, including “Camp: Notes of Fashion” at the MET Museum, “Viktor&Rolf Fashion Artists” at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, “Viktor&Rolf: MetaFashion!” at the Sea World Culture and Arts Center in Shenzhen,” Viktor&Rolf par Viktor&Rolf : Première Décennie” at the Musée de la Mode et du Textile, “ The House of Viktor&Rolf” at the Barbican Art Gallery, and “Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists” at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
On the occasion of the brand’s 30th anniversary, one hundred of their most iconic pieces were showcased in the exhibition “Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements” at the Kunsthalle in Munich. Some of their dresses were also selected as the protagonists and symbols of the exhibition “Memorabile. Ipermoda.” still ongoing at the MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, in collaboration with the National Chamber of Italian Fashion.
