"THE NEWS ARTICLE"

ATLANTA —- As part of its inaugural fashion venture, the High Museum of Art hosted a private panel discussion and early preview for “Viktor&Rolf. Fashion Statements" before the exhibition’s official opening on Oct 10. The event marks the couture designers’ first U.S. museum exhibition. 

 

In a press release by the High Museum, High Director Rand Suffolk emphasized the exhibition's significance.

 

He stated, “Just like other important fashion exhibitions presented at the High, ‘Fashion Statements,’ featuring the stunning work of Viktor&Rolf, demonstrates how wearable art is among the most provocative and inventive forms of contemporary design.”

 

Featuring over 100 works, this exhibition is divided into eight chapters showcasing what Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren deem their most audacious and avant-garde pieces from 1993 to 2025. The garments were accompanied by fashion photographs from previous catwalks and editorial shoots, as well as digitized visuals that were designed by visual effects studio Rodeo FX. 

 

Horsting and Snoeren, in conjunction with exhibition curator Thierry-Maxime Loriot and the Kunsthalle Munich, worked together to guide preview attendees through the Viktor&Rolf. process and how that is reflected in the High’s exhibition.

 

Loriot even emphasized how the visual additions accompanying the garments work together to give visual permanence to the design duo's ever-lasting quest to blur the lines between fashion, art, and commentary.

 

Loriot stated, “These elements helped us to discover how we can push the limits of the traditional exhibition and reinvent the ways that their work can be presented and make sense together, showing visitors uniquely what the word 'haute couture' truly means, especially in a museum exhibition.”

 

With Horsting and Snoeren’s work initially being unveiled in art galleries at the start of their career and then later evolving into fashion shows/exhibitions, the ability for their work to survive in museums like the High has always been a part of their core desire and goal. 

 

Horsting took time to detail the duo’s work’s multidimensionality as fashion, art, and commentary. He discusses how the duo has an understanding with each other that their works are never to be created with the sole purpose of simply adorning the body. He stated that instead, “...with our work we want something more, we want to tell a story and instead of using words we use fashion…”

 

He goes on to emphasize that instead of wearability, communication is their main concern, and communicating through fashion in a way that when their work is viewed, it can be “understood and interpreted” much like the lasting essence of a painting. But, unlike a painting, the essence of the stories in their work can be seen walking the world or in a gallery with the impact “never being overlooked,” Horsting said.

 

The exhibition “Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements” runs through Feb 8, 2026, at the High Museum, offering viewers the opportunity to explore the design duo’s unique legacy in their work's relationship between fashion, art, and commentary. For more information, visit the High Museum of Art.

 

Sources:

 

- Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, contact: OTB (Only The Brave) Group, info@otb.net, +39 0445 30 65 55.

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- Thierry-Maxime Loriot, contact: tloriot@mbamtl.org