Charli XCX Couldn’t Sit Down In Her Viktor & Rolf Dress (But Loved It Anyway)
Charli XCX at the Flowerbomb 10th anniversary party in Paris. Photo: Getty Images
From cannons stuffed with roses that exploded to release a cloud of silver confetti to a bespoke serenade of “When You Wish Upon A Star” by Tori Amos, love was in the air at the 10th anniversary party for Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb fragrance. Friends of the family - including La Petite Anglaise blogger Ella Catliff, Michelle Rodriguez and Ellen von Unwerth - piled into the Le Trianon concert venue to celebrate with the house’s lookalike co-founders, Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, who earlier in the day had staged a conceptual performance for their Fall-Winter 2015 Wearable Art couture collection.
“You know these boys they’re so original and they’re so naive in a way, their message of love and spreading it through a bottle is just so incredible,” said Inez Van Lamsweerde, one half of Inez and Vinoodh, the legendary photographer duo behind the perfume’s campaign. “We got to create this image for them and I feel like, somehow, it proves that you don’t have to change your image every two years as your fragrance spreads, and that if you have a good fragrance and a good image it lasts forever.”
Also on the bill was British pop star Charlotte Aitchison, better known by her stage name Charli XCX, whose voluminous asymmetric flower dress was so outrageous we just had to sneak backstage to take some style notes. We found Charli – who had just taken to Twitter to announce: ‘FLOWERBOMB #Viktor&rolf #icantsitdown.’, before deleting it - parked on a sofa in the unpractical creation, looking a little, well, sweaty.
Yahoo Style: Hello Charlotte!
CA: Hello! I would get up and hug you but I’m molded into this. You have to sit in a certain way…
YS: How is it to be in Paris, are you familiar with the fashion world?
CA: It’s amazing, I think everyone who lives outside of Paris always has a very overly romanticized view of it, but I love that. I love fashion and I love personal style more. I love designers who take risks and try and create art.
YS: Did you see Viktor & Rolf’s couture event today, around the concept of wearable art?
CA: I didn’t get to see it. They spoke to me about it and said it was very stressful creating live. I think it’s really interesting because it’s a performance, you know. I like that they’re very fearless and can put themselves right in the center like that and put themselves under pressure to make these beautiful creations.
YS: Do you know Flowerbomb?
CA: I actually was given Flowerbomb for a birthday present when I was maybe 16…I feel like for people my age it’s such a signature scent, all my friends grew up wearing Flowerbomb.
YS: Talking about style and performance, how do you like to present yourself on stage?
CA: I like to wear things that are classic rock show pieces. I’m always inspired by The Runaways or Donna Summer, female performers who are flamboyant and wild and performed like rock stars.
YS: What about contemporary figures like Lady Gaga who push things to the extreme?
CA: I think she’s wonderful and opened a lot of young girls’ minds to some really interesting aspects of fashion that maybe they wouldn’t have seen had it not been for her and MTV. Me personally, I’ve always been inspired by Eighties and Nineties cult movies, from The Craft to Clueless to movies like Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains to being inspired by really quite aggressively dressed women from Poly Styrene to The Slits. I like bold statements when it comes to fashion.
YS: Your career has skyrocketed. Since becoming more well known, do you feel more responsibility to dress up in the daytime?
CA: No. I’m someone who’s definitely not perfect all the time, I make mistakes — fashion mistakes and life mistakes.
YS: Did you pick this piece today?
CA: Yeah, they showed me three or four creations and I chose this one.
YS: What drew you to it?
CA: I love the colors and this side part, when I stand up, is so amazing.
YS: Do you feel like a flower?
CA: I really do.
Related: Meet Inez Van Lamsweerde, One Half of Celebrated Fashion Photography Duo Inez + Vinoodh
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