As Paris Fashion Week comes to a close, Viktor & Rolf have decided to end the event with a runway show that literally reinvents, flips and turns the way to wear a classic ball gown.
During the designer’s unveiling of its Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 on Wednesday, Jan. 25, in Paris, France, models strutted down the catwalk in voluminous pastel gowns.
After a few looks, the show took a turn. Models started appearing wearing the dresses in both unexpected and conventional ways.
The bodice of one model’s dress was turned to the side so that the top-half of the gown jutted out at a diagonal and the bottom of the dress was extended toward the air.
That model was followed by two more who wore traditional yellow and blue ball gowns.
Then, another model walked the runway with her dress perpendicularly attached to the boning that is typically used as the basis for couture gowns.
For one of the final looks, a model confidently strolled toward the crowd with her gown completely upside down, covering her face.
Viktor & Rolf’s collection was not the only one with bold designs that intrigued audiences at Paris Fashion Week
Two days earlier, Kylie Jenner was photographed donning a black velvet dress with a massive painted lion head attached to the bodice.
She posted about her daring look on Instagram with a slideshow that highlighted the intricate details on the lion head and mane that made it look almost realistic.
“Thank you @danielroseberry and @schiaparelli for such a special morning,” she wrote, giving a shout out to the designer label. “Wow i loved wearing this faux art creation constructed by hand using manmade materials.”
She added, “Beautiful beautiful,” and two lion emoji.
The designer explained the extensive work it took to create the animalistic collection in an Instagram post.
“Leo Couture Embroidered Lion in hand sculpted foam, wool and silk faux fur, and hand painted to look as life-like as possible, celebrating the glory of the natural world,” the caption said. “Nothing is as it appears to be in Schiaparellis Inferno Couture…NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN MAKING THIS LOOK.”
Jenner’s dress was part of Schiaparelli’s three-part Inferno Couture collection that featured a lion, leopard and she-wolf.
Supermodels Naomi Campbell and Shalom Harlow wore the she-wolf and leopard outfits, respectively on the runway. Meanwhile, fellow supermodel Irina Shayk had the honor of wearing the lion dress on the catwalk.