Viktor & Rolf ready-to-wear no longer ready

There are three types of designers in the world: those who are masters of ready-to-wear, those who are true artists of couture, and those extremely gifted few who prove to be lords and masters of both. For those true artists of couture, their dream is to never even look at a ready-to-wear piece and be free to go as wild as possible with couture on the runways while their labels still rake in millions of dollars from fragrances. Well, on February 3rd, 2015, Design Duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, the design duo known as Viktor and Rolf, announced that they would be discontinuing their ready-to-wear line and fulfilling every couturiers dream.

They are the second European luxury label to follow this trend, after designer Jean Paul-Gaultier announced the end to his ready-to-wear line, and debuted his last ready-to-wear collection at Paris Fashion Week in September 2014. Gaultier then proceeded in discontinuing ready-to-wear women’s wear, menswear, and accessories. For design houses that choose to eliminate their ready-to-wear lines most of their profits come from fragrances. Given the 145.00 dollar price tag for a bottle of Viktor and Rolf Bonbon Eau De Parfum the brand is still poised to be highly profitable, but how else will the end of their ready-to-wear line affect their business?

According to Renzo Ross, president of OTB group which purchased Viktor and Rolf in 2008, they are hoping this move will help position Viktor and Rolf as a supreme global luxury brand. The most unfortunate news about Viktor and Rolf no longer doing ready-to-wear is they won’t even give their ready-to-wear line a final farewell show the way Gaultier did for Paris Fashion Week. Fall 2015 will be their last ready-to-wear collection, but they have opted not to show at Paris Fashion Week this year.

Instead, they have chosen to begin focusing more on their creative roots and beginning to take their passion for couture full force. The duo did recently show at Paris Men’s Fashion Week, to which their collection was met with adoration. It will be a shame to see their ready-to-wear collections go, but fashion lovers can rest assured that there will be plenty of theatrics once they have returned their focus to couture.

Viktor and Rolf showed five couture shows between 1998 and 2000, many of which were almost like performance art, like that time they dressed Maggie Rizer in ten layers of clothes with the full intention of their show seeming as much like performance art as possible. The duo are also known for staging runway shows that almost seem like musicals, having had performances by actresses like Tilda Swinton, and musicians like Rufus Wainwright and Tori Amos.

When OTB group invested in the company it was clear that Viktor and Rolf would be headed in a new direction, but no one expected them to shutter ready-to-wear completely. If there is one thing this abrupt decision says about the fashion industry it’s that couture is not dead. Couture has often been critiqued for being too inaccessible and not functional, but even in this very practical day and age there is still a need for fashion as art. After all, it was the grands-couturiers of the middle of the twentieth century who revolutionized fashion forever, including Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, and Hubert Givenchy.

The duo’s plan for moving forward with couture is to release two couture collections twice a year, respectfully, with a spring/summer collection and a fall/winter collection. Prior to 2014, it seemed as if the twenty-first century was the death of couture. Fashion houses such as Balmain, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, and Christian Lacroix all left the couture business to begin focusing on ready-to-wear and more functional clothing items for their brand.

While the world was deep in a global recession spending 22,000 dollars on a gown that took eighty hours to make probably did not seem like the best idea. With a post recession economy designers have begun to make a return to couture and more avant-garde designs. With the decision of designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier and Viktor and Rolf to focus primarily on couture being so recent it is still yet to be seen if there is really a movement and demand for couture again, so the world will await with bated breath to see if a return to couture is in order.