Dutch fashion house Viktor & Rolf has used fabrics leftover from past seasons to create the haute-couture garments in its Autumn Winter 2016 collection.

For their Vagabonds show during Paris Fashion Week yesterday, designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren repurposed their leftover clothing and materials into new pieces based on their older designs.

These past collections have included sculptural white garments made from Cubist facial features, broken picture frames filled with fabric, and giant 3D flowers influenced by Vincent Van Gogh.

Vintage pieces from the Viktor & Rolf archive provided a starting point for the shapes of the garments.

"The collection ponders over the past, where elements from past iconic collections are carefully scrutinised before being lovingly reworked into a new order," said the designers' show notes.

"The past is looked at in a new light and used as a stepping-stone for the new, the more durable."

"As such, recycling is used as a means of expression rather than a goal in itself, reflecting a thoughtful attitude and a focus on conscious designing," they added.

The cloth was ripped up and collaged together. Some of the garments combined hundreds of different fabrics.

Thin strips were woven and braided to form patchworks of material, which unfurled at the ends to better show the separate colours and patterns more clearly.

Larger sections were ruched into shoulder adornments for denim jackets and used to create decoration across pullover sweaters.

Patches of multicoloured buttons covered pockets, knees and cuffs, with some stitched across entire garments.

"Fabrics are torn, mixed up and woven by hand to create new voluminous shapes and textures," said Viktor & Rolf.

Towards the end of the show, clothes got larger and more voluminous, as more and more tulle was used to form layered skirts.

The collection is named after the vagabonds of British novelist Charles Dickens' tales of Victorian London. In the stories, homeless vagrants like the characters Fagin and the Artful Dodger from Oliver wandered around the city in roughed-up fancy attire.

In reference to this, models wore crooked and dimpled top hats, black shoes and neck scarves. The Victorian influence was also seen in the cut of long coats, with nipped waists and large lapels.

"With their thrown-together, tattered and seemingly mismatched look, [Dickens' vagabonds] inform a collection that is created using select fabrics and garments from past seasons," Viktor & Rolf said.

Viktor & Rolf was established in Amsterdam in 1993, and opened its first flagship store in Paris 20 years later.

The fashion house has frequently collaborated with Belgian artists Studio Job to create scenography for its catwalk shows, including Autumn Winter 2010 and Autumn Winter 2013.