Iris van Herpen aesthetics: a fusion of art and technology

The dresses of this brand cannot be confused with any others – airy, weightless, space, similar to visions, with psychedelic prints, incredible lines, at the same time vaguely familiar and unlike anything else in silhouettes.

Images from Iris van Herpen are not just clothes, but real works of art, fascinating with their unique beauty, originality and depth of thought. Each such dress can be admired endlessly, again and again discovering something new in it. How does a designer manage to do this?

XXI century artist

The Iris van Herpen brand appeared relatively recently – in 2007, but has already managed to become recognizable, popular and win both world catwalks and the love of many famous fashionistas. Star fans of the Iris van Herpen brand include singer Lady Gaga, Cara Delevingne, Cate Blanchett and Gwendoline Christie.

The founder of the brand, Iris van Herpen, is a Dutch fashion designer who was previously engaged in ballroom dancing and gymnastics, and then decided to devote herself to fashion and art. In 2006, she graduated from the ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem (Netherlands), later trained at the Alexander McQueen fashion house, after which she was able to start working on creating her own brand.

Iris admits that fashion for her is primarily art, and she considers herself an artist who decorates her body. Indeed, her dresses can hardly be called just clothes; rather, they are amazing fantasies that have received such an unusual embodiment. And as a true artist, she prefers to experiment and surrender to the power of something uncontrollable, like fire, water or energy.

This is how, for example, she created shoes for one of her collections: she added steel to liquid rubber and used magnets. And voila – we got unique shapes created by the very energy of attraction.

At the intersection of art and technology

Considering dresses from Iris van Herpen, one cannot fail to note their dissimilarity to all other creations of haute couture: their shape, lines, materials and colors are distinguished by their quirkiness, unrealism, a combination of futurism and something quite familiar, down-to-earth.

Some dresses resemble frozen waves of the sea surf, others look like flowing watercolor on canvas, others seem to be a visual reflection of sound, others are associated with endless galaxies … Each such dress looks like a sculpture or a painting that penetrates the depths of our subconscious and touches the strings of the soul.

Iris herself, when creating her collections, is inspired by a wide variety of things: space odyssey, skydiving, flying birds, mushrooms, the ocean … Hence all this variety of shapes, silhouette, colors and textures.

However, inventing is not all. The creation of dresses that include such complex elements can be considered a unique process. Iris is one of those who managed to competently combine the latest technology and art.

When implementing her ideas, she uses 3D printers, degradation techniques, laser cutting, metallized filaments, in a word, she prefers not to ignore the achievements of science, but to use them. But as the designer herself notes, technologies for her are not a source of inspiration and a goal, but remain only a means to achieve the final result.

Fashion of the present and future

Fashion changes along with the world culture, economy and technology, and Iris feels this very subtly. Today, in an era where caring for the planet and its resources is at the forefront, the Iris van Herpen brand does not stand aside and uses recycled plastic to create its masterpieces, supporting the Parley for the Oceans program.

The brand also advocates the use of sustainable materials and custom production for each client individually. After all, as you know, some of the mass-produced clothing ends up in landfills without being purchased. The fashion of the future is seen by Iris as progressive not only in terms of the use of technology, but also in terms of a reasonable and careful attitude towards the world around us.