The House of Dolls

I reported the V&F invasion into L-town about a month ago when I first started blogging. I was super excited about the designers exhibiting their work for the first time in the UK- and being the fashion dork I am booked my ticket way in advance. Having the Barbican Center- the space showing the V&F collections mention me as a critique on their site- has been one of my blogger gold star moments and made me even more excited to check out the exhibition.

The V& F curation was gorgeous and simple channeling their journey of 15 years. One of my favorite bits of the exhibition was their impatience to fulfill their childhood dreams, and the installation created called Launch which was a mini version of what they aspire for the future and an effect to making their dreams come true. Their vision of a studio, catwalk show, photo shoot, and boutique, all in miniature. They designed a miniature fictitious perfume in limited edition of 250 bottles that were sealed shut.

Some of my favorite pieces were images of the Viktor and Rolf Strike, their frustration over lack of exposure in the press.

The most astonishing of all pieces was the Doll's House. Over 2 floors high, and probably is the biggest doll house in the world, the massive structure was at the heart of the exhibition, and contained miniature replicas of all their signature pieces. Each doll was made up to look like the model who wore the dress.

The best part is peeping through the windows from behind the doll house,where I am allowed a moment of eerie intimacy with the dolls and a chance to see the exquisite details, of the bows running down the back of a wedding gown the designers created in 2003.

I manage to film the Russian Doll Piece A/A of 99/2000 , where one model wore the entire collection sequentially. The Long Live Immaterial (Bluescreen) piece was also filmed and equally innovative. Each space at the exhibition had signature pieces form their collections like Bells, Stars&Stripes, Ballroom, Flowers, accompanied with a projection show of the actual catwalk. The music and scenery, differed from room to room, but all were overwhelmingly breathtaking.