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Drama took centre stage like so many of Viktor and Rolf’s shows, extreme, excessive and elegant, the house (kingdom) of Viktor and Rolf took the white shirt and manipulated it like no-one else can.

With a precise direction, Viktor and Rolf harness their imagination and morph it into clothes which are capable of elegance, explosive originality and centre around a youthful, Parisian aesthetic which is stretched to its limits. Viktor and Rolf remain focused on beauty- in all dimensions. The classical take on beauty however, is always twisted in the mesmeric mind of the untouchable duo by which those deepest desires are unleashed. Fantasies imbue the air of the cultural classic, sophisticated and ultra-sharp aesthetic home to Paris. To which Viktor and Rolf say: loosen those hemlines, unpick the stitches and unravel the tailoring to open the gates and unlock the beauty and otherworldly nature of Viktor and Rolf.

Needless to say, Viktor and Rolf let us dream and S/S did just that. Although camp humour was more than apparent, what was potentially missing was the Viktor and Rolf tailoring, the theatrics for some, may have been a perpetual force which ended up dissolving the meaningful, wearable looks. To those I say: enjoy the damn drama! shows like this set the difference between ‘fashion’ and ‘art’. With shredded ribbons of coral, scarlet, navy and turquoise, multiple cuffs spanning the arm and collars saturating the neck strengthened the importance of camp infused magnificence. Plus, isn’t that what we what in a ‘show’? Of course there was a balance of dramatic tailoring with backs of shirts which trailed to the floor, sheer zebra striped shoes with mono-chrome shirts indicated a strong look. With puff-ball shirts in neat, rose stripes with trousers to match seemed incredibly appropriate for the modern Parisian woman (setting aside many looks to come).

Shirts stretched off the shoulder cascaded down the length of the leg, this on top of oversized ones with pearl embroidered bibs enhanced the pearlescent quality of the clothes and made the models appear just that; doll-like models. With plays on proportion, stretched jersey was bound in panels as silks in cyan, black and pearly white bloomed from the restrictive sections. These silk suffused shirt dresses were puffed about the chest, cuffs and hips as large incisions of French lace bound the body in romance and decadence. Always accelerating to a remarkable climax, with more of everything (collars, cuts, cuffs and skirts) it was shirting like never done before, too much? Never.