Celebrated Designer Iris van Herpen Delivers Spellbinding Couture Presentation in Paris

Van Herpen has always amplified the importance of materials in her output and in this collection, at the core is tulle, hand-pleated silk, 3D relics, oil paint, and boning. “These materials allow me to explore transparency, lightness, and structure, echoing the fluidity and forms found in nature,” she says.

Here, van Herpen was interested in challenging the traditional concept of what a couture show is—and could be. As a way to blur the lines between the senses and explore fashion’s relation to painting, performers were elevated and partially sculpted into their own canvas. Beyond their sheer beauty and poetry, these living artworks invite the viewers to take “the time and space to discover the works in detail,” she says. “As these body-works took many months to make, the performance creates time and space in which the audience can perceive them very personally and at their own pace.”

Unveiled during the hybrid show were couture gowns and aerial sculptures. Fragments of painted silk, hand stitched to a tulle base, look like lava, the flowing textures composed of layers and layers of oil paint, evoke the heavy impasto of Japanese artist Kazuo Shiraga. Other pieces draw inspiration from Joan Mitchell, Louis Bourgeois, and Hieronymus Bosch, while poetry and literature also infuse her oeuvre.

A move to the countryside from Amsterdam also greatly impacted and informed her practice. “Living outside in nature has deepened my connection to my environment and heightened my awareness of sustainability even more,” she tells Galerie. “This shift is reflected in my work, both in the materials I choose and the themes I explore. Both the aerial works and the body-works embody our symbiotic relationship with our environment to engage and inspire a broader cultural shift towards ecological mindfulness.”