Viktor&Rolf in Milan: Fashion Meets Art at 10 Corso Como

If you’re a fashion lover like me and you’re heading to Milan this fall, I have a must-see for your list. One of my favorite Milan destinations for decades, 10 Corso Como, is celebrating its 35th anniversary with something very special: Viktor&Rolf. Spectrum, the first exhibition in Italy dedicated to the renowned Dutch design duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren. And if you’ve ever wondered what Viktor and Rolf’s full names are – now you know!

On view from September 25 through November 22, 2026, Spectrum brings together more than 20 haute couture looks spanning three decades of the designers’ career. But this isn’t your typical fashion retrospective. Instead of simply telling their story chronologically, the exhibition brings together pieces from different collections to explore the ideas, contrasts and recurring themes that have shaped Viktor&Rolf’s work.

Viktor&Rolf in Milan: Fashion Meets Art at 10 Corso Como
By Brigitte Segura. | FashionDailyMag.com

From Hyères to Haute Couture

Viktor&Rolf first made their international mark in 1993 at the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie in Hyères. From the very beginning, the Dutch duo approached fashion differently, combining haute couture with art, performance, visual culture and social commentary.

That creative spirit has remained at the heart of their work for more than 30 years.

Their collections can be theatrical, surreal and wonderfully unexpected, with exaggerated proportions, unusual silhouettes and plenty of imagination. For Viktor&Rolf, clothing is often just the beginning. Their shows and collections can become artistic statements in their own right.

Fashion Meets Art

Spectrum highlights some of the duo’s most memorable collections, including NO (Fall/Winter 2008–09), Wearable Art (Fall/Winter 2015–16), Performance of Sculptures (Spring/Summer 2016) and Fashion Statements (Spring/Summer 2019). In Fashion Statements, words and slogans become part of the clothes. In Wearable Art and Performance of Sculptures, garments move beyond the traditional idea of clothing, taking on dramatic, sculptural forms.

This constant conversation between fashion and art is one of the things that makes Viktor&Rolf so fascinating. Their work has gone far beyond the runway and into the collections of major institutions, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Kyoto Costume Institute.

Seeing Viktor&Rolf in a Different Way

Curated by Alessio de’ Navasques, Spectrum takes a fresh approach to the designers’ archive. Rather than presenting the collections from beginning to end, looks from different moments in their career are brought together through shared ideas, shapes and creative approaches.

The exhibition explores themes including Decadence and Restraint, Tailoring Deconstruction, Bomb Silhouette, Surreal Body, Art or Fashion?, Upcycling, Cutting Edge, Upside Down, Fashion Statements, Opposite Attraction, Conceptual Scent and The Variation of Scale. It becomes a kind of visual conversation between pieces created years apart – showing how certain Viktor&Rolf ideas return, evolve and transform over time.

A Little More Viktor&Rolf History

The exhibition also includes the original bottle of Le Parfum, from the duo’s 1996 Launch project. For the project, Viktor&Rolf imagined an entirely fictional fashion brand, complete with a store, atelier and photographic studio. At the center was Le Parfum, an impossible fragrance inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s Air de Paris. It’s a great little piece of their history and a reminder that Viktor&Rolf have always been interested in much more than simply making clothes. They create images, ideas and entire worlds around fashion.

The Exhibition Space

The exhibition itself is designed to echo the idea of a “spectrum.” Architecture studio (Parasite 2.0) worked with the curator to create a space of reflections, contrasts and connections between the different looks. The garments are displayed on Bonaveri mannequins chosen to emphasize their sculptural forms and their relationship with the space around them. So even the way you experience the clothes becomes part of the exhibition.

If You’re in Milan…

For anyone who loves fashion, art and design, Viktor&Rolf. Spectrum is definitely one to put on the Milan itinerary this fall. For me, there’s something especially nice about seeing this exhibition at 10 Corso Como, a place I’ve loved for decades and one that has always brought fashion, art, design and culture together in such a unique way. more @10corsocomo @viktorandrolf

Even better? Admission is free.

So if you’re in Milan before the cold weather really sets in, make time for 10 Corso Como. You may just find yourself looking at Viktor&Rolf -and fashion itself – a little differently. And send me your pics! I’d love to see them.

Follow us: @brigitte_segura and @fashiondailymag for partnerships, editorials, and UGC opportunities.

Viktor&Rolf in Milan: Fashion Meets Art at 10 Corso Como
By Brigitte Segura. | FashionDailyMag.com

Photos and exhibition information courtesy of 10 Corso Como.

Viktor&Rolf. Spectrum

10 Corso Como Galleria, Milan
September 25 – November 22, 2026
Daily, 10:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Free admission
Curated by Alessio de’ Navasques