In Paris, the cubist couture of Viktor & Rolf, the lyrical couture of Yuima Nakazato

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Jun 28, 2024

Beyond the frills, ruffles and princess dresses, the Paris Haute Couture Week dedicated to autumn-winter 2024/25, which ended on Thursday, showcased more experimental and contemporary proposals. This was the case for Balenciaga, among the best-known names, but also for other houses that are increasingly attracting attention, such as Viktor & Rolf, with a delightful collection in the spirit of cubism, or Yuima Nakazato, with an almost mystical theatrical production.
 

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With Viktor & Rolf, clothing is always in a state of flux, pushing the envelope a little further in the direction of offbeat, abstract, even artistic, avant-garde fashion. For their new opus, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren looked back to their past, more precisely to their second haute couture collection, "Atomic Bomb" from autumn-winter 1998-99, produced twenty-six years ago and considered to be their first truly revolutionary manifesto, with its bulging top silhouettes in the shape of an atomic mushroom.
 
But they wanted to go further, and not just confine themselves to this cherished shape defined by voluminous tops, as illustrated again in their Autumn-Winter 2022 collection. This season, they have drawn on the artistic movements of Cubism and Constructivism, as well as children's games based on simple geometric shapes. Spheres, cubes, parallelepipeds, cones and pyramids are incorporated into the garments, usually around the neck or torso, creating a geometric distortion of the body.
 
Clothes are cut from beautiful fabrics in garish colours or in prints with large polka dots and stripes. The punchy mix and match, with its prominent shoulders and big bows, is reminiscent of a certain 1980s spirit. A soft green garment bag becomes a maxi dress, while a giant red cotton balloon with white polka dots doubles up as a bodice. Paired with a short coat in black and white Vichy fabric with puffed sleeves, it adds roundness to the silhouette.
 
A checked tetrahedron jacket, worn with a mini skirt, points its nose dangerously forward, while raising the shoulders sharply, for an American footballer look. Elsewhere, a classic pair of grey satin trousers has its waist widened into a half-sphere, a chic striped minidress is tightened around a rectangular collar, while a cylinder woven in copper thread acts as a coat. And what about this evening dress in gold lurex, with the torso inflated into a helium ball, or this accordion top with an extra-wide flared strawberry collar?
 
Behind the playfulness and high-visual-impact sculptural aspect of this collection, entitled "Haute abstraction", the Dutch design duo's main aim is to form "spontaneous and slightly absurd compositions, mixing elements of clothing with abstraction, with the aim of taking the viewer's mind out of the past and encouraging free exploration," they state in their note of intent.

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Yuima Nakazato has created a dark and powerful collection, all in red and black, which is being celebrated until January 5 at the Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode in Calais with an exhibition dedicated to his avant-garde creations made in 3D or in innovative textiles. The Japanese designer draws his inspiration from Idomeneo, Mozart's opera dedicated to the tragedy of the King of Crete, for which he designed the costumes for the ballet-show presented in Geneva earlier this year under the direction of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and from his own experience in theatre.
 
Influenced by this lyrical universe, he transformed the fashion catwalk into a theatrical stage, with the dancers of the Geneva ballet covered in large gold ceramic pendant buttons that clicked with each of their movements, while the male and female models walked around them with solemn steps, pausing to shed their heavy coats or long majestic black capes, before revealing sinuous spiderweb tunics in blood-red macramé.
 
Sometimes these cloaks were worn inside out, revealing a precious lining in a tapestry fabric with red motifs. Elsewhere, a thick red rope was wrapped around the neck and torso. The movement was also marked by long fringes undulating in ornamental necklaces, tied around the waist like an apron, or hanging from bracelets fixed to the upper arms. The antique feel of these long, almost tribal silhouettes is accentuated by jewellery sculptures made in ceramic by the designer and his team, using Japanese clay.
 
Always at the forefront of technological textiles, which he combines with artisanal processes, Yuima Nakazato confirms his commitment to limiting his environmental impact by using a blended fabric in this collection, composed of 70% cotton and 30% Brewed Protein™ fibres developed by Spiber, taking advantage of Japan's Epson's advanced pigment inkjet printing technology to create his designs. Born to a sculptor father and a jeweller mother, the designer studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, creating his brand in 2015, which he has presented at Paris Couture Week since 2016.