While aiming to provide a lighthearted escape into fantasy, both collection and presentation also have a gritty edge. Traditionally 'beautiful' couture references are put into a raw, young context. Haute Couture meets underground party. The mood is irreverent and almost casual but always elegant: an antidote to doom scrolling.

In keeping with the brand's adage that highlights the 'power of transformation', Viktor&Rolf chose ‘Het HEM’, a former munitions factory outside of Amsterdam as a venue. Currently a center for contemporary art, art collective RAAAF's permanent installation 'Still Life' (2019) forms the poetic backdrop for this season's performance. Four gigantic, slowly moving heavy brass plates were crafted from the leftover source material for bullet production. As such, 'Still Life' creates a link between the past, present and future of the historically burdened heritage of the space.

In parallel to this conceptual repurposing of base materials, Viktor&Rolf continue to build on their upcycling Haute Couture collections of the last years. Archival materials are used, ranging from minuscule patches of vintage laces and jacquards to fragments of vintage dresses. The outfits in this collection show incongruous combinations. As if the separate elements that constitute them were picked up from a pile haphazardly and put together in haste by a flock of party people who can't wait to go clubbing, knowing quite well they cannot, as of yet.

All looks are styled with Melissa / Viktor&Rolf shoes (made from recycled plastic) in bright candy colours: heavy soled high top lace-ups. To stay securely grounded while you're temporarily floating. With this collection Viktor&Rolf felt more free than ever, motivated by a sincere desire for 2021 to become a 'Feel Good Year’.