Róisín Murphy Makes Viktor & Rolf’s Credit Crunch Couture Crackle

In Paris Fashion Week, fashion heavyweights Viktor & Rolf snark-and-barbed about their Spring 2010 collection being their own take on the world's apparent lack of money. The latter half of the duo remarked, “It’s all about cut-backs. It’s everyone’s response to the belt-tightening and recession. This is our version." His counterpart added, “So we took out a chain saw and hacked away at excess, starting with the tulle." In the past, V&R have always had an excellent and discerning ear about performers picked to provide a soundtrack for the catwalk. And this show, credit crisis and all, was no exception, as they found a dazzling and spirited performer in Róisín Murphy.

Murphy debuted a pair of new songs—“Royalty” and “Demon Lover”—as dramatic as the asymmetrically-sliced dresses and sharp cuts of tulle in which models paraded down the runway. Also dramatic: the top-heavy tutu she sported to obscure her burgeoning baby bump.