ch-ch-ch-changes

Viktor & Rolf Will Stop Doing Ready-to-Wear After This Season

Photo: Joe Schildhorn /BFAnyc.com

Fresh off a well-reviewed couture show, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have announced that they’ll be pausing their ready-to-wear business following their fall 2015 collection. The designers, who’ve been in business for 22 years, told Women’s Wear Daily that they would instead focus on couture, fragrances, and licensing— similar to the approach Jean Paul Gaultier took when he exited the RTW business last year. Renzo Rosso, whose Only the Brave group owns a majority stake in the brand, told the paper that the move was “a strategic decision to position the Viktor & Rolf brand in the highest luxury segment of fashion.”

Viktor & Rolf will not show the fall 2015 collection as part of a runway show during Paris Fashion Week, but rather will opt to present it off-schedule; in addition, the brand’s Paris flagship will close in 2016. Horsting framed the move as a creative decision. “We feel a strong need to refocus on our artistic roots. We have always used fashion to communicate, it is our primary means of artistic expression. [Ready-to-wear] started to feel creatively restricting. By letting go of it, we gain more time and freedom.”

Viktor & Rolf to Stop Doing Ready-to-Wear