Iris van Herpen: the goddess of design and 3D technological innovation in haute couture

The Goddess of 3D Designs would be a perfect epithet to describe designer Iris van Herpen. From the outset, she has been committed to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue between the worlds of fashion, nature, technology, architecture, and science. Her aim has been to establish the perfect fusion between traditional craftsmanship and the latest technologies.

During the 2016 MET Gala, Iris Van Herpen played a significant role due to the theme focusing on “Manus X Machina: Fashion in Age of Technology,” exploring how designers reconcile craftsmanship and technological innovation with haute couture and ready-to-wear. It was undoubtedly an edition where Iris Van Herpen showcased her creations alongside Chanel, Christian Dior, Raf Simons, and Issey Miyake, among others. A total of 150 outfits were exhibited spanning from the early 20th century to the present day.Prominent figures dressed by Iris van Herpen

First and foremost, collaboration has been one of the most important factors in the designer’s creative process over the years. Surrounding herself with the best architects and professionals to bring all her innovative ideas to life. The theme that repeats most throughout her career is nature-inspired. From designs imitating plant membranes and mushroom gills to the complexity of feathers and fossils.

Her originality and technology have attracted the attention of major names in the music and film industries… Among the most prominent are Naomi Campbell, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Björk, Rosalía, Naomi Campbell, and even Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

 

The need to innovate and attempt to create what seems impossible is what has led her art to be exhibited in the world’s most prominent museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

In conclusion, Iris Van Harpen has managed to combine audacity, elegance, and femininity in her designs over the years, which are considered by many as true works of art.

Iris van Herpen’s latest challenge presented at Paris Haute Couture Week: aquatic architecture and bionic innovations

In her latest project, her new autumn-winter 2023 collection ‘Architectonics’, Van Herpen is inspired by aquatic architecture and bionic innovations. It reflects a vision of a dystopian future, where people live on land and in the sea. Creating a coexistence between the human and marine worlds.

Additionally, with the collaboration of French architect and oceanographer Jacques Rougerie, this pioneering collection offers a deep understanding of the intricate relationship between oceans and the surrounding urbanism. Through lights and shadows enveloping the bodies, fragmentations, changing patterns, and distorted perspectives. To continue redefining the boundaries of fashion.

Iris van Herpen busca la experimentación, utiliza tecnologías innovadoras para controlar el movimiento y las características de los materiales de sus diseños. Su objetivo es claro a través de sus colecciones: fusionar la moda con la ciencia, la naturaleza y el arte, sin olvidar la importancia de la artesanía y la sostenibilidad. 

Iris van Herpen seeks experimentation, using innovative technologies to control the movement and characteristics of the materials in her designs. Her goal is clear through her collections: to merge fashion with science, nature, and art, without forgetting the importance of craftsmanship and sustainability.

The beginnings of Iris van Herpen

Iris van Herpen is known for being the first designer to use 3D printing to create a collection for Fashion Week. However, her early designs did not include this technology. After graduating in fashion in the Netherlands, she had the opportunity to intern with designer Alexander McQueen.

The influence of her time in London is palpable in her first autumn-winter 2008 collection ‘Chemical Crows’, which she presented two years after graduating. Above all, motifs filled with fantasies inspired by crows stand out, combined with the designer’s fascination with medieval alchemists.

A couple of years later, when she began working on her ‘Crystallization’ Haute Couture 2010 collection, her intention was to capture the sensation of water falling from a body when exiting the bathtub. Moreover, she was able to manifest it in the form of a transparent dress, sculpted in glass and plastic that cascaded onto the model’s body like water splashes, dubbed “The Splash”.

Furthermore, to create this spectacular design, van Herpen collaborated with the Architectural Center of Amsterdam. The result was her first collection that includes 3D-printed elements, made in collaboration with London architect Daniel Widrig. It was presented at Amsterdam Fashion Week in 2010.

This revolutionary collection marked a before and after in the designer’s career and paved the way for her ‘Escapism’ spring-summer 2011 collection, a continuation of the collaboration with Daniel Widrig, and her commitment to thoroughly investigate the potential of technology in haute couture fashion design.

The result was lighter and more flexible 3D-printed dresses, sculptural pieces that were printed to be worn without the need for sewing. To continue breaking the boundaries of the couture world and mixing traditional techniques with technology.

A meteoric career, a unique figure in the world of fashion

From the outset, Van Herpen has been a designer ahead of her time. At Horse Magazine, we have been following her work closely for years, in 2015, when we dedicated an article in our print magazine to describe her as one of the creators who would revolutionize the world of fashion, thanks to her visionary approach and daring commitment to 3D designs. In that publication, we discussed three of her collections: ‘Crystallization’ (2010), ‘Escapism’ (2011), and ‘Biopiracy’ (2014).

Likewise, her first two collections marked the beginning of her meteoric career. With the autumn-winter 2014 ‘Biopiracy’ collection, she continues her commitment to 3D technology, the hallmark of the house, in collaboration with Julia Koerner and Materialise. To create dresses that amplify body movement, with slashed fabrics and artificial fibers.

Designs combined with sculptural futuristic leather boots created in collaboration with United Nude, extend the legs with a novel moving silhouette. 

Continuing with her spring-summer 2017 collection ‘Between the Lines‘, she once again surprised the fashion world, delving into new creative territories. Inspired by the beauty of mistakes, she explores the imperfection of systems. She presents a series of optical manipulations with patterns that incite the eye to discover new patterns “between the lines”.

She enlisted the help of architect Philip Beesley to create these designs based on the manipulation of dimensional geometries. The most outstanding dress of the collection is the “Alchemy of Light”, a unique piece that imitates water droplets, made with laser cutting technique and vacuum molding.

Iris van Herpen in recent years

In Horse Magazine, we also commented on her spring-summer 2021 collection ‘Roots of Rebirth’. This time, 3D designs were used to embroider a mosaic of lacy gills with fine edges on expandable lace. Laser cut to reveal the details between the skin and the amethyst-colored fiber. Also, to create transparent false nails shaped like roots, weaving a dialogue between the earthly and the underworld.

Bold and avant-garde dresses, and shoes were part of her ‘Roots of Rebirth’ collection. Designs that include eco-friendly, sustainable material, and Ocean Plastic fabric.

Her creations represent a revolutionary evolution in the world of fashion and haute couture that seems to have no end.

 

Images courtesy of Iris van Herpen.