“The ideas in my head are always a bit outside reality, but that’s also what drives me”
ion to its rarest form, but also help minimise our environmental footprint.” In the coming decades, this could manifest itself in the form of 4D printing, an evolution of 3D printing whereby a piece of lace, for example, could be coded to change over time, whether under the influence of heat, water or even movement of the body itself. Imagine a jacket that could adapt to the temperature of each day, meaning we’d only need one instead of, say, five. “We already know we need less clothes, but it’s quite another thing to convince people to want less clothes,” she says.
Over the years, Van Herpen’s work has been defined as well by her collaborative spirit, and she continues to find “magic” in the meeting of minds, particularly in projects involving her passion for dance, like creating costumes for productions by choreographers Benjamin Millipied and Sasha Waltz. “When a garment inspires a dancer, whether emotionally or functionally, that’s when I feel fashion and dance intertwine and it’s a really magical moment.” Indeed, as our model draped her arm over the chandelier and rocked her body to and fro, she seemed encouraged to dance, the dress coaxing her to wave her arm like a tail fin. They were, for that brief moment, in conversation with each other.
In the past decade, Van Herpen’s collaborators have grown to include entire organisations like Cern—where the Large Hadron Collider’s ability to accelerate particles with magnetic forces inspired her latticework pinafores in her spring 2015 collection, Magnetic Motion—as well as with other talents like Philip Beesley. The renowned Canadian architect had seen Van Herpen’s Hybrid Holism collection that was inspired by his immersive installation art and decided to pay her a visit. It felt like a meeting of old friends.
“With a rapidity that still astonishes me, we formed a common language,” says Beesley. “The beauty and sensitivity of her couture reflects the beauty from under the skin all the way to outer space. And even with something as empty or cold as space, in her hands, it could be made into something charged with radiant energy.”
Her Sensory Seas collection, shown just this February, is a great example. Van Herpen says she mentally dived into the sea and emerged with dendrite-like dresses that oscillated with the grace of jellyfish. “It was also partly inspired by the drawings of Santiago Ramón y Cajal, a scientist from the 1800s who illustrated our nervous systems,” she adds. “I loved the idea of connecting the emotional world inside us with the medusa forms of the sea, creating this beautiful collision.” There seems to be no idea or field that is too farfetched for her to translate into clothing.
Before we left her studio that morning, I’d asked: having tapped the minds of artists, architects and scientists, what field is she most interested in next? She pondered the question for a long minute, blonde hair tousled over one shoulder as she stared into the distance at her mannequins—not quite at the clothes themselves, but at the space in between, searching it for words. “Philosophy,” she says finally. “I’ve never had personal encounters with philosophers and seeing how the scientists at Cern opened my mind, I think a philosopher would do the same. I love how, like science, philosophy asks more questions than it answers.”
After a day spent with her, it became abundantly clear that Van Herpen’s greatest impact lies neither in her technological dexterity nor even creative talent, but in her openness towards differing voices, curious attitude and excitement towards the unknown, where others only see fear and doubt. At a time when borders are closing at the slightest tremor, and suspicion and distrust cast shadows over societies, it’s perhaps more useful than ever to look to Van Herpen not just for beautiful dresses but also for a little perspective.
“Ceaselessly exploring and inventing, she shows me how to be fundamentally optimistic,” says Beesley. “And the sheer fertility of her designs encourages me to dream of new, hope-filled futures.”