Inside The House of Viktor and Rolf

Mixing art with fashion, it is Viktor & Rolf who have infused their runway collections and stores with a surrealist slant since forming their label 15 years ago.

And their avant garde style has inspired just how their work will be displayed at the Barbican gallery too.

So what's The House of Victor and Rolf all about? The pair have recreated 55 key looks from past collections in miniature, all of which will be displayed on little porcelain dolls, that will be housed in a 28 foot high dolls house designed by architect Siebe Tettero. Around this house - the centre of the exhibit - life sized porcelain dolls will wear real archive pieces from past collections while projectors will show the catwalk shows the looks are from.

'Dolls, and projecting ambitions for the future by using dolls, is something that we've been working on for a long time,' Viktor Horsting told industry bible WWD ahead of tonight's unveiling. In fact the duo created their first ever collection on dolls in 1996 - for an exhibition called 'Launch', a model in miniature of their dream to have a fashion label.

It's this kind of fantastical thinking that has won Viktor & Rolf critical acclaim and celebrity fans all over the world including Rosin Murphy and Oscar winner Tilda Swinton. Both of these women are admired for their individual style and quirky-cool fashion sense and make the perfect model's for Viktor & Rolf's black and white collections which are always fantastical and romantic, juxtaposed with sexy, sharp tailoring and exaggerated proportions.

To buy tickets for the exhibition click here, or enter our competition to win some now.

By Laurelle Gilbert

Posted: 17 June 2008