Exhibition charts Dutch designer’s futuristic fashion

Designer Iris van Herpen draws inspiration from various sources – art, architecture, science and the movement of the human body.

A 3-D printed top and skirt. Branden Camp / AP Photo
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Iris van Herpen creates ­cutting- edge fashion using a combination of traditional craftsmanship and innovative technology, drawing inspiration from various sources including art, architecture, the movement of the human body and science.

Though her name may not be familiar to the average consumer, fashion-­forward singers such as Lady Gaga, Björk and Beyoncé have all worn her creations.

Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion, a new exhibition that opened this month at the High Museum of Art in ­Atlanta, Georgia, and runs until May 15, features 45 pieces from 15 of the Dutch artist's collections designed in the past 8 years. Organised chronologically, it offers visitors an insight into the evolution of the young designer's career.

Many of the couture pieces look like costumes from a futuristic sci-fi movie, with dramatic ­flourishes created using unexpected materials and contrasting textures.

The pieces are displayed on custom mannequins in such a way that visitors can walk around and see them from every angle, because they are as much sculpture as clothing, says the museum’s curator of decorative arts and design, Sarah ­Schleuning.

Van Herpen, 31, says people sometimes assume she is inspired by technology but that is not the case.

Rather, she sees technology as a tool to help her achieve the physical representation of ideas in her head.

“My inspiration doesn’t come from something visual,” she says. “Often I’m inspired by things that are invisible to us, such as magnetic motion or electricity.”

Her creative process often includes collaborations with other artists, designers, architects and scientists. Once she has an idea, she experiments to see whether it can best be executed by hand or using more high-tech methods, such as 3-D printing.

The first 3-D-printed piece she sent down a runway was part of a collection called Crystallization in July 2010, and was inspired by the way limestone deposits form. The cream-coloured polyamide material extends out from the torso in ridged loops, and thin strips of acrylic stick out from the waist of a matching short leather skirt in a way that mimics water squirting out from a fountain.

The same collection also featured a water-inspired dress. A simple iridescent beige, leather sheath with columns of ruffles and draped in metal chains is accented by a giant plastic collar that makes it look as if someone came up and threw a bucket of water over the model and the splash is frozen in time.

One of the most remarkable pieces in the exhibition is Magnetic Motion, from van Herpen’s spring 2015 collection. It looks like a delicately carved ice sculpture. The structures are so fine and delicate that the technicians at the company that printed it for her initially didn’t think it would be possible to create with a 3-D printer using the transparent resin she wanted.

The result is a stunning short, strapless dress that hinges open along one side and snaps onto the model. Like many of the other pieces in the exhibition, it is hard to imagine how it looks on a human body. A video in a side gallery showcases six of her runway shows so that visitors can see the outfits on models and watch the extraordinary way they move.

Made from materials that include woven metal gauze, the metal ribs of children’s umbrellas, leather, laser-cut acrylic, foil, stones, cotton and more, the dresses scream to be touched, and they are happy to oblige. There are samples of six materials from outfits in the exhibition, including the ice dress and water dress, both of which are made from hard, unforgiving plastic, as well as a rubber material that feels like the skin of a Halloween mask, a fine wire mesh that is surprisingly flexible, and a mat of fastened-­together umbrella ribs.

* Associated Press