Iris Van Herpen is a Dutch fashion

designer and couturier renowned for

her futuristic, darkly fantastical

aesthetic. Van Herpen’s designs are

hypnotic garments based on multi-

layered kinetic sculptures.

Her early adoption of 3D printing

technologies placed her in the

vanguard of the technology’s

introduction in the fashion system,

favoured by the likes of international

VIPs like Lady Gaga, Bjork and Tilda

Swindon. Van Herpen collaborates

with the Belgian company

Materialise NV for the printing of her

designs and has partnered with

several artists from various

disciplines like choreographers and

dancers, visual artists, architects,

jewellery designers and filmmakers. With its sculptural and architectural

nature, Van Herpen’s designs are exhibited in various museums, including

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Royal Museum of Toronto and

the Groninger Museum.

Van Herpen's design aesthetic is inspired by art, architecture, and science,

which are often fluidly merged in her collection. Her collection also

incorporates novel materials and intricate construction techniques which give

her clothes a futuristic quality. One of the most notable aspects of her clothes

is their unexpected movement; the way they hang and drape is nothing like

traditional garments, and that's because they utilize physics to their

advantage.

In AW 2019/20 van Herpen collaborated with American kinetic sculptor

Anthony Howe, whose pieces are powered by the wind. The designer said

she was compelled by the way the arching vertebrae, spinning on a curving

axis, simultaneously expand and contract.

Her final dress was made in the image of Omniverse, with rotating wings

constructed of aluminium, stainless steel, and feathers. For the show, Van

Herpen explained, the spinning was mechanized, but outside in the wind, the

wings would twist just like Howe’s kinetic sculptures. It was spectacular but in

a performative way.

What’s so interesting about this collection is the way that even the pieces

without Howe’s input were kinetic. They positively vibrated. Van Herpen

achieved this in part by utilizing the Japanese ink-on-water technique of

suminagashi; it created a print of lines, which she heat bonded to Mylar and

laser cut in contrapositive ways. Overall, Iris Van Herpen's designs continue

to push boundaries in the fashion realm. The use of cutting-edge technology

and science, coupled with her dedication to creating novel and unexpected

silhouettes, epitomizes how art and technology can come together beautifully.

Going forward, it will be exciting to see what innovative creations she has in

store for the future.