NOW: Wayward duo

No wardrobe is complete without lingerie by Marlies Dekkers, some Jan Jansen Shoes and, depending on age and taste, a creation by Mart Visser, Daryl van Wouw or Viktor&Rolf. Each and every one Dutch designers to be reckoned with.
The wayward Viktor&Rolf love to flout fashion convention. Sometimes the bespectacled pair are their own mannequins, other times they engage just one model for a show to which the public is not even invited. In their first shop in Milan they even mocked gravity: everything, from chairs to flower vases ‘stood’ on the ceiling. Long a cross between art and clothing, their creations often find their way into museums. In 2000 Viktor&Rolf embarked on a radical change of course: from haute couture to wearable clothes. The Netherlands’ Princess Mabel is a well-known fan of Viktor&Rolf. For her wedding she wore a white creation covered in bows. A dress that went on to inspire a once-only wedding range for H&M fashion.

THEN: Ring for major contribution

The Max Heijmans ring is an oeuvre prize awarded over the past 25 years to designers who have made a major contribution to Dutch fashion. The ring is named after Max Heijmans (1918-1997), the first designer to wear it. Heijmans is lauded as the Netherlands’ first couturier who, until well into the 1960s, was virtually the only name of consequence in fashion. His clients included famous actresses of the day, like Conny Stuart and Mary Dresselhuys. Heijmans was also house couturier at Hirsch, the prestigious Amsterdam fashion house that counted Queen Juliana a regular client. One of his legendary sayings: ‘If all women who wear trousers could see themselves from behind, half as many trousers would be sold.’