03 Oct Viktor & Rolf 2012 Spring Runway

It was blazing hot at Viktor & Rolf. Good thing they got the red face paint idea out of the way last season. Instead, the models wore a thick set of synthetic pink lashes—they were baby dolls, not knights. Dolls’ clothes informed the girlish silhouettes, the stiff nature of the fabrics, the oversize lace prints, and the blown-up proportions of the stitching that held the clothes together.

The naive quality of the lacing, as if it had been done by seamstress giants, worked on some of the pieces, including a bra top and a matching skirt as well as an A-line shift. Ultimately, though, it overpowered the show’s prettier, simpler moments, such as the pair of metallic lavender lace dresses, one just below the knee and the other long to the floor.

The designers seemed to let their concept get in the way of what grown-up women might actually want to wear.

The models made their entrances and exits though the parted yards-long “skirts” of the singers of the pop duo Brigitte, who performed on a platform high above the runway. Horsting and Snoeren get.