MILAN – Before getting a major Paris retrospective early next year, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are to be celebrated with an exhibition at 10 Corso Como here.
Titled “Viktor&Rolf. Spectrum” and running Sept. 25 to Nov. 22, this will be the first solo exhibit in Italy dedicated to the Dutch design duo and is poised to be among the special projects marking the Milan concept store’s 35th anniversary this year. It will also further build on the retailer’s increased focus on boosting its cultural programming, following in the footsteps of the success of previous exhibitions such as the “Yohji Yamamoto. Letter to the Future” show that welcomed more than 20,000 visitors during its two-month run back in 2024.
The new showcase will be staged in the retailer’s Galleria venue, one of the areas that has been revamped as part of the 10 Corso Como building’s complete makeover. Created specifically for the essential space by the Viktor & Rolf company, the exhibition will be conceived as a single large-scale installation and curated by Alessio de Navasques, professor of fashion archives at Sapienza University of Rome and curator of the cultural program at 10 Corso Como.
A Viktor & Rolf couture spring 2024 look.
Marijke Aerden/Courtesy of 10 Corso Como
A selection of 20 couture looks spanning more than three decades of the designers’ career will be at the core of the show. Moving beyond a traditional chronological narrative, the display will highlight the continuities, returns and transformations that define the duo’s creative research while revealing the coherence of their language.
In particular, the exhibit’s design will hinge on the concepts of mirroring, reflection and correspondence. The looks will be presented in pairs, with creations linked by formal affinities, variations and visual echoes that reflect the designers’ methodology and approach rooted in the principle of duality.
A moment of the recent Viktor & Rolf couture fall 2026 show.
SGP Italia Stefano Guindani/Courtesy of 10 Corso Como
“Our work is like a laboratory, a place to experiment and develop ideas,” said Horsting and Snoeren in a joint statement. “The central focus is always fashion itself. Its codes, its appearance, its structure. Each new season provides an opportunity to approach this investigation from a new angle. As such, our 30-years plus of work shows an ever-expanding range of positions regarding the subject of our fascination: fashion. These are beautifully represented in the tightly edited presentation at 10 Corso Como, aptly titled ‘Spectrum’.”
The designers are set to attend a cocktail event that 10 Corso Como will host on the eve of the official opening of the free-admission show.
Horsting and Snoeren established their fashion house in 1993, and it has been controlled since 2008 by Renzo Rosso’s Italian fashion group OTB, which recently raised its stake to 100 percent. In addition to couture, the designers create ready-to-wear, bridalwear and eyewear. The house also has a long-standing collaboration with L’Oréal Luxe, which for more than two decades has developed and distributed globally high-end fragrances such as Flowerbomb, Spicebomb and Bonbon.
Rolf Snoeren and Viktor Horsting
Blommers & Schumm/Courtesy of 10 Corso Como
The 10 Corso Como exhibit promises to be just an appetizer for the recently announced Paris retrospective that will run at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs from Jan. 28 to July 4, 2027, as reported.
Curated by Thierry-Maxime Loriot, it is to showcase more than 100 couture creations and be organized by theme, displaying the duo’s most iconic designs such as the “Russian Doll” collection famously modeled by Maggie Rizer, and the “Fashion Statement” collection of tulle dresses bearing such slogans as “No Photos Please” and “I’m Not Shy I Just Don’t Like You.” The designers’ miniature dolls, archival materials, and immersive installations and projections will also be incorporated into the retrospective.
Previously, Viktor & Rolf’s artistic creations have been celebrated by some of the world’s leading cultural institutions through exhibitions and showcases across Europe, Asia and the U.S., including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Barbican Art Gallery in London, Maxxi in Rome, Kunsthalle Munich, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Sea World Culture and Arts Center in Shenzhen, China.
