Iris Van Herpen
Van Herpen is regarded as one of fashion’s future-forward designers of this generation. At the recent Paris Fashion Week, Herpen unveils her latest Haute Couture Autumn/Winter ’22 collection at the Élysée Montmartre in Paris with a live audience, her first physical show since the start of the pandemic.
For this collection, the Dutch designer reflects on the past and is inspired by the ethereal identities from Ovid’s magnus poem Metamorphoses—Arachne, Narcissus, Apollo and Daphne—where she explores different alternate realities and life beyond our physical bodies.
“The connection is inspired by hyperreality and posthumanism, so it really dives into the future of where we are now with the metaverse at our horizon and what we’ll be spinning off of those new realities,” says Van Herpen.
The showcase, which also marked the brand’s 15th anniversary, consisted of 16 physical couture looks which also came with three digital versions that were supposed to be worn by avatars. Unfortunately, the interactive mixed-reality runway experience did not transpire as the Microsoft technicians had fallen ill just before the show. However, the show must go on and the guests were treated to a truly mesmerising presentation.
On the runway, one could tell that the looks are built upon Van Herpen’s prior fabric and technological innovations, like the 3-D printed dresses from 2009. With intricate construction, unspun laces and laser cut halos, the collection reconceptualises and redefines some of the brand’s most iconic designs from the past. Some of the designs appears like an intersection between a deep-sea creature and exotic Amazonian plants; others resemble alien organisms or exoskeletons. As for the colour palette, Van Herpen opts for her signature colour scheme of light and dark, however, with pops of amethyst and metallic copper that accentuate an interplanetary allure.
Van Herpen also collaborates with Dutch designers Eric Klarenbeek and Maartje Dro to create the 3-D printed “Singularity” jumpsuit, using eco-friendly materials like cocoa shell beans. Other “green” elements includes a biodegradable silk from a species of banana called Abaca, native to the Philippines, created by ForWeavers, and 100 percent recycled Mylar from Solaris.