Fashion show opportunity of 2005

Letter from the editor December/January 2005

It's hard to believe we're already going into the 6th year of the 21st century. Apart from people's technological savvy--with their computers, their iPods, their BlackBerrys--signs of human progress often appear scarce. In fact, on certain fronts and in many ways, this appears to be the case. With the world today divided by all kinds of religious wars, and the headlines blasting terror, trauma, and too many tragedies, it often seems as though, instead of going forward, we've gone back to some new version of the Dark Ages, or a type of neo-medievalism. But, of course, that's not the full picture. Just consider the possibilities that science and medicine now offer, or the steps forward in the battles for equal rights as they relate both to the color of one's skin and the gender of one's partner, or the surge of activism that erupted during the recent election. The list goes on. Hey, the struggles aren't over, but at least there's movement.

All this must have been on the minds of the avant-garde design duo Viktor & Rolf when they planned their Paris fashion presentation for spring 2005. Sometimes a fashion show is simply about introducing a new collection of clothes, but occasionally there are designers who grab the opportunity to try to nail the zeitgeist--exactly what Viktor & Rolf did with their show. The production was a marvelous spectacle, marrying pyrotechnics with vision, concept with clothing (an example of which is featured on page 90). Underneath it all was something that Emily Dickinson captured so exquisitely in 1862 when she wrote: "Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul,/And sings the tune without the words,/ And never stops at all."

The first half of Viktor & Rolf's presentation could have been called The Moderns, as it featured a parade of black-clad models wearing crash helmets. But as a sign that something more was coming, starkness was interspersed with whimsy and wit--a smattering of bows here, there, and ultimately, everywhere. As the collection unfolded, the models formed an iconic 20th-century fashion tableau, ostensibly re-creating a version of Irving Penn's famous 1947 photograph titled Twelve Most Photographed Models, with its ladders and all. Then, as if to say that it's time to make way for the new century, the designers created the illusion that this scene was sent up into outer space. After the sights and sounds of an "explosion," there was darkness and anticipation. When the lights came back on, it seemed to be a new world--all rose-colored, alive with pinks, and full of promise. By the finale it was clear that what had been choreographed wasn't quite a brand new world--just a new perspective. We were looking at that same iconic fashion tableau we'd seen earlier, only this time because of the palette and the dresses themselves, it was softer, more lyrical, and sweeter-seeming.

There are so many ways to interpret Viktor & Rolf's show and finale, but no matter how one does, the duo gave us an experience rife with an unforgettable sense of optimism. That's the way to greet the new year. As Dickinson said about hope in that same 1862 poem: "I've heard it in the chillest land,/And on the strangest sea;/Yet, never, in extremity/It asked a crumb of me."

INGRID SISCHY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF