Viktor & Rolf design costumes for German opera

Fashion design

Audience members at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden were treated not only to the music of the stunning new opera “Der Freischütz” but also to the fabulously over-the-top Viktor & Rolf-designed costumes.

By Editor Design.nl / 03-06-2009

Viktor & Rolf have been invited to design the costumes for the new production of the romantic opera “Der Freischütz” (The Freeshooter) by Carl Maria von Weber, directed by Robert Wilson. The opera premiered in Germany’s largest opera house - the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden on 30 May 2009.

The collaboration is a combination of the distinctive vision of Robert Wilson and Viktor & Rolf’s unique way of designing. It is the second time that they have worked together. In November 2004, Viktor & Rolf designed costumes for “2 Lips and Dancers and Space” for the Netherlands Dance Theater. For the Freischutz opera, Viktor & Rolf have created remarkably colourful, dramatic and show-stopping looks. The designs were approached in an almost comic strip manner, which fits the naive folkloric-like-tale opera and Robert Wilsons’ aesthetics.

For the soloists, costumes incorporate voluminous 3D-constructed shapes in saturated colours and words across the front panels and shoulders. They are made of organza, silk, satin, felt, lurex and jute covered with almost one million Crystallized™ - Swarovski Elements in total. The crystals transform the ambience and create a myriad of special light effects in one single look. The costumes portray fantasy and create a fairytale moment as if sprinkled by fairydust. The designs for the choir are inspired by the traditional German costume in particular - the ‘Dirndl’ and ‘Lederhose’ - and were made of black neoprene.

Photography: Lesley Leslie Spinks