When it comes to Iris van Herpen, normal rules just don’t apply. The Dutch fashion designer combines craftsmanship with innovation in techniques and materials. Her unique designs are a constrast between beauty and regeneration.

“For me fashion is an expression of art that is very close related to me and to my body.
I see it as my expression of identity combined with desire, moods and cultural setting.” For van Herpen, fashion is the expression of character and emotions, fashion is an art.

“With my work I intend to show that fashion can certainly have an added value to the world, that it can be timeless and that its consumption can be less important then its beginning. Wearing clothing creates an exciting and imperative form of self-expression. ‘Form follows function’ is not a slogan with which I concur. On the contrary, I find that forms complement and change the body and thus the emotion. Movement, so essential to and in the body, is just as important in my work. By bringing form, structure and materials together in a new manner, I try to suggest and realize optimal tension and movement.”

Wilderness Embodied Haute Couture – July 2013, Paris Haute Couture week

Partnership with Jean-Baptiste Mondino

Voltage Haute Couture

Hybrid Holism Haute Couture – July 2012, Paris Haute Couture Week

Micro Haute Couture – January 2012, Paris Haute Couture Week

Ecapism Couture

Crystallization

Synesthesia

Radiation Invasion – September 2009, London Fashion Week

BIO: Iris van Herpen first studied dance at the Preparatory Course Art & Design in Artez, where she became interested in fashion. Afterwards, she enroled in Fashion Design at Artez Institute of the Arts Arnhem and was an intern with Alexander McQueen. She started her own label Iris van Herpen in 2007 and her talent has been reconized through awards, exhibitions, publications, and her guest membership of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. In fact, TIME Magazine has named Iris van Herpen’s 3D printed dresses one of the 50 Best Inventions of 2011.

Over the years, Iris van Herpen has made recurrent collaborations with many notable names such us Beyoncé, Lady Gaga (check out Lady Gaga’s Outfits), Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Zach Gold and Tilda Swinton.