Get mean

A voluminous A-symmetrical silhouette, this pink tulle gown is adorned with the text ‘GET MEAN’, which has been applied to a frilled love-heart background. Designed by Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren of Dutch fashion house Viktor&Rolf, it is from the duo’s 2019 Spring haute couture collection, Fashion statements. This collection included an array of tulle gowns in exaggerated proportions and similarly carried witty and wry slogans drawn from the world of contemporary fashion and social media. Alluding to Western ideals of femininity, this gown references an historic, overly flounced, women’s dress but with the surprising addition of the text ‘GET MEAN’, a rebuttal of social norms of femininity.

Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren are two of the most innovative and conceptual fashion designers working in haute couture today. Self-described ‘fashion artists’, the duo has collaborated since 1993, producing highly original wearable art, featuring designs in which concept, innovation and humour are united. Their approach to fashion design is characterised by innovative and sustainable use of materials and a love of haute couture, while the pair is recognised for effortlessly bridging the disciplines of fashion and art.

Rebecca Evans, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design