Milan fashion weekIf you've ever wondered at the inner life of Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, their Resort collection offered some pointed insight. After a year of life-changing yoga, Rolf was open to the option of transcendental meditation. But a particularly grim brown-rice-no-knickers introductory tape compelled him to ask, "Why can't spirituality be glamorous?" So he and Viktor trained their powers of imagination on one of those counterintuitive hybrids they specialize in, and whaddaya know? Haute Hollywood met Hare Krishna. Well, hello, Dalai!

Archness is Viktor & Rolf's albatross, but here, the inspiration was so innately peculiar that there was scarcely any point to the accusation. The exaggerated shoulders, the draped lamé, the layers of tulle (for day and night), and the ruching were sheer—though not always see-through—silver-screen goddess. The hot orange-y color scheme and decoration stirred Indian exotica into the mix. (A pair of wide pants were apparently inspired by a sari.) The designers rather fancied the notion of a spiritually enlightened Rita Hayworth as the collection's presiding spirit. Quite how she would speak to women in the twenty-first century was unclear, especially when it was more likely they'd be listening to "classic" V&R: the trench with Chinese lantern sleeves, the gazar blouson with the big bow, the tuxedo with one ruffled lapel. Maybe not enlightened but at least comprehensible.

Fashion Brand: Viktor & Rolf | www.viktor-rolf.com

Viktor & Rolf designer brands duo Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren from the Netherlands, the same age (Viktor & Rolf 2 people born in 1969), the same dynamic.