Iris van Herpen blends DNA engineering and early astronomy into couture
Presented today at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Iris van
Herpen’s latest couture collection “Shift Souls” is an intricate blend
of early astronomical discovery, recent biological advancement and
aquatic art.
While the sources of influence seem to have very little in common,
the Dutch fashion designer blended them into 18 remarkable haute
couture looks characterized by dissected and voluminous layering
rendered in a warm color palette.
“I looked at the evolution of the human shape, its idealization
through time and the hybridization of the female forms within
mythology,” Van Herpen said in a statement. “The way imagination and
the fluidity within identity change in Japanese mythology gave me the
inspiration to explore the deeper meaning of identity and how
immaterial and mutalble it can become within the current coalescence
of our digital bodies”
More specifically, the Dutch designer collected her inspirations
for her latest set of designs from early celestial cartography as well
as its representations of mythological and astrological chimera.
Van Herpen also took note of modern advancements in DNA
engineering, particularly the creation of human/animal hybrids called
Cybrids, which are made through the fusion of multiple cell parts that
result in a single cell that contains the nucleus from one species and
the cytoplasm of another.
In the notion of Cybrids, Van Herpen interprets themythological
dreams of humankind that existed since the dawn of civilization now
shifting to the canvas of science. While looking at the use of
mythology to interpret early scientific discovery, “Shift Souls”
expresses the fact that a new scientific reality is upon us.
Van Herpen integrated a couple of silhouettes that emanate her
various inspirations: a voluminous spheroid shape that unfolds vibrant
patterns through translucent organza, called the Harmonia, and the
Symbiotic volumes are made from gradient dyed silks that are multi-
layered into sculptural shapes.
The Harmonia silhouettes are made using hand plissé, while the
Symbiotic features use of fine 3D lasercut frame of PETG, mimicking
the juxtaposition of early discovery and modern science from the
designer’s influences.
Some of the designs in “Shift Souls” use a “Galactic glitch”
technique, in which cloud-printed silk is heat-bonded to mylar and
lasercut into the finest lace of thousands of O.5mm ‘harmonica waves’,
that optically distort the body.
While the thematic inspirations of the collection come from
scientific discovery, the aesthetics turn towards New York-based
aquatic expressionist artist Kim Keever. Through painting and
photography, the former NASA engineer experiments with the idea of
ephemerality and movement.
Van Herpen collaborated with Keever on vaporous colored clouds that
are printed in translucent organza in her silhouette called
Cosmica.
And for the final look shown in the haute couture collection, Van
Herpen employed the help of another contemporary artist, Nick
Verstand. The artist, known for his work in spatial audiovisual
compositions, helped Van Herpen to subdivide the space using walls of
materialized laser light, revealing a dreamscape of circulating clouds
that encapsulated the visual themes of “Shift Souls.”
Photos: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen