Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris.

Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris.

In a show that saw artworks exploding off the wall to form couture gowns, Viktor and Rolf created garments that exaggerated the balancing acts that lie at the heart of all clothing. On everyday clothing, common pattern shapes are regurgitated so that designers don’t have to deal with pesky things like gravity. However, once materials become harder, heavier or stiffer the ability to shape and control the structure of a garment to form extreme silhouettes becomes more and more important.

For example, many familiar garments use the shoulders and the waist as anchor points since garments will rest on certain points of the body once gravity takes its toll. Spaghetti straps may suffice for a lightweight camisole, but once you’re trying to support a dress made of canvas and frames, it makes sense to resort to wide strapping instead.

These wide straps also appear to be used internally in the garments to create cantilever effects, with a hidden D-ring barely visible on the inside of one of the frames. Often the weight of the frames is used to create tension on the fabric in these cases, with the frame fragments straining against each other to spread the fabric volume. On a normal garment, the fabric fullness created by gathers or pleats would fall into soft or crisp folds, but here this fullness is spread to produce bulky, angular hemlines.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 1. Tension created between frames and straps.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 2. Frames take normal garment fullness and make it angular.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 3. Frame used to create collar. Canvas edge stapled.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 4. Frames and canvas exaggerate counterbalance.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 5. Angles cut in frames shape canvas and control break points.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 6. Rips in canvas create armholes.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 7. Splattered paint embroidery on denim.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 8. Waist acts as anchor point, reinforced here with strapping.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 9. Shoulder straps support the weight of the garment.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 10.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 11. Neutral colour represents the back of the canvas.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 12. Frame creates weight and tension pulling out from central pleats.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 13.

Balancing Frames and Canvas at Viktor & Rolf | The Cutting Class. Viktor & Rolf, Couture, AW15, Paris, Image 14.

Images from Vogue.co.uk»

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