Ballet beautiful at Viktor & Rolf

How do you close a week of breathtaking fashion, incredible craftsmanship and almost totally righteous over-use of the word ‘fabulous’? The way Viktor & Rolf did tonight, that’s how.

Their show in Paris saw pointe dancers from the Royal Dutch Ballet (the designers’ homeland) displaying their latest unnervingly sweet-but-tough creations. They plied and piqued around the showspace wearing delicately shaded, gossamer-thin latex pieces that were printed with graphics of bows and ruffles, of swagged fabric, trompe l’oeil bustiers and even swallow tattoos.

There were longer draped skirts made from the same material, peplums too, a blouse and an elegantly knotted tailored jacket. The material looked as smooth as silk and as light as air, and was reflected in the dancers’ movements.

It isn’t the first time Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have presented their collection in such an imaginative way – last season saw them ‘landscaping’ grouped models into a zen garden for their return to the haute couture schedule after 13 years, and in 1999’s ‘Russian Doll’, they dressed model Maggie Rizer in dozens of layers as the audience looked on.

There was certainly something deft about their handling of this type of material, which is notoriously difficult to work with and to print upon. And while this type of optical illusion ‘tattouage’ has been tried before by likes of Issey Miyake and Alexander McQueen, Horsting and Snoeren’s interpretation felt light and girlish rather than anything more streetwise or aggressive.

The event also served as a launch for the house’s latest fragrance, BonBon, which is sure to follow in the best-sellingsuni footsteps of their Flowerbomb scent.

Click the gallery for all the looks from the Viktor & Rolf spring 2014 couture show