01/17/2026
In 2010 Anja Rubik opened the show in the collection’s most iconic look: a sculpted, “chainsaw cut” ball gown with striking negative space. The designers took a chainsaw to the gowns made from dusty pastel tulle, reworking the cutaway froth to immediately set the collection’s surreal tone.
This ball gown from the “Cutting Edge Couture” collection responds directly to the global financial crisis of 2008. Referencing widespread economic restraint, designer Rolf Snoeren noted that they chose to literally cut into tulle ball gowns, using scarcity as both an idea and a physical technique.