Iris van Herpen:
· What materials and methods do they use and what do they design?
https://www.irisvanherpen.com/about
Van Herpen’s work is deeply rooted within nature. Water, air and earth are elements that leave traces in the sensorial garments. The infinite properties alluding to movement such as the unbound forces and fluidity behind water or its crystalline formations are facets that flow into the designs. Through biomimicry, the maison visualises and materialises the invisible forces that shape our world, perpetuating a deep sense of organic presence.
The maison is known for binding emerging technologies like elaborate 3-D printing or laser-cutting with delicate handwork such as embroidering or draping, creating a hybrid of Haute Couture. ‘Craftolution’, coined as the evolution of craftsmanship and the embracement of change form the core of the brand’s identity, fusing layered lightness, three-dimensionality, and undulating volume into ethereal creations.
Iris van Herpen blurs the lines between art and design. Celebrating an inclusive approach where collaboration creates community, the maison integrates sustainability as second nature.
Sensory seas collection 2020 - The flickers and curves of Cajal’s anatomical drawings are revealed in the ‘Labrynthine’ technique; 3D lasercut silk dendrites are heatbonded to blossoming leaves of black transparent glass-organza, to then be hand-embroidered onto lasercut pearlescent exoskeletons. The 'hypertube' looks are 3D printed from a single-lined web using white silicone thread, that is printed onto black silk-chiffon, twisting down the body. For the ‘Hydrozoa’ technique, cellular aquarelles of dark purples and turquoise were oil-painted and multi-layered into hundreds of transparent lasercut PetG bubbles. The glass organza halos were digitally printed, heatbonded and then hand-stitched into voluminous splashes. The file-work of each layer is drawn to hang upwards, blooming aquatically with each movement.
· What is their creative process?
“my process is pretty chaotic. We work on material development, we do a lot of experiments, but for a very long time in the collection process we have no view on the final result yet which I really like.”
https://coveteur.com/2018/06/04/iris-van-herpen-sustainable-fashion-creative-process/
The questions that fuel her creative process:
“The one sort of unknown factor that I’m always looking for is the space around me. I think that started when I was a dancer—that has always been a fascination for me. What’s the relationship between my inside and my outside? And how does the body turn around the space around her? Also the idea of femininity—what that is and how the definition has changed throughout time and what it will be in our future. How some materials that we will never be able to work with can still be transformed conceptually into the work. To give an example, my studio is by the water, and I think water is one of the most beautiful materials there are. I mean, a real water dress, I will never—maybe? never say never—I will probably not be able to make [one], but those materials that are uncatchable are really inspiring. To me, the more impossible it seems, the better the challenge.”
Her nontraditional creative process:
“I don’t sketch, so everything I design is an image I have in my mind that I translate to the people I work with or I do directly on the mannequin. It’s a quite intuitive process—I really look at the material, I start draping, I have no idea about the outcome. It’s completely uncontrollable. Sometimes it’s literally done in half an hour, and sometimes it can take up to two weeks, so it can be really frustrating. The draping is sort of my sketch, then the whole process of the making begins. That is done with my team, and each dress has a difference process. But mostly we start making a plan—usually it's a combination between some digital work and hand work.”
· How do they develop their ideas – sketches, maquettes, assemblage, toiles, photography, digitally etc?
“When I design, the draping process most of the time happens to me unconsciously.”
“It’s several [ideas] at once. There are always some ideas that work out and some that don’t work out. It’s quite a process of chaos.”
Collaborates a lot with sculptors, painters, dancers, scientists, engineers, architects – “there is so much strength in collaboration”
· What did they study and how did they become a fashion designer and haute couture house?
Trained in classical ballet, Iris van Herpen contemplates movement as a metamorphic force which in a duet with fashion, can extend the forms of the human body. Pioneering techniques and materials evolve into liquescent shapes and intricate layered textures, sculpting graceful silhouettes that reflect a woman's myriad of movements.
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