The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris is hosting one of the most impressive exhibitions of the year—a retrospective of Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen, Sculpting the Senses. This landmark show offers a glimpse of not only 100 of the couturier’s most technologically impressive objects but also her own collection, from fossil fragments to conceptual “aquatexture”.
Iris first began experimenting with 3D-printed clothing in 2010. She later became a star in the fashion world thanks to her futuristic designs. “Collaboration with architects and scientists was very important for me. The first revolutionary object was a rotating wearable device, the design of which is made of polymer and eco-leather. We developed it together with the architect Daniel Wildrig. I began to not only draw inspiration from these disciplines, but also work with them, and it really took fashion to another level,” she says.
More than a decade later, the couturier has carved out a niche as one of the most visionary designers working today. Her vision is based on cutting-edge technology to explore fashion as an interdisciplinary language inextricably linked to physics, biology, dance, and art.
The dresses are fascinating as technological achievements in themselves, but the set design of the exhibition also deserves a separate story. Visitors are taken on a journey through a cabinet of curiosities that alternates between ancient artifacts and crystal lattices, a gleaming wooden cabinet by Ferruccio Laviani, and bulbous feather sculptures by Kate McGuire. The solo exhibition showcases all the masterpieces, including the shimmering sci-fi dress Grimes wore to the 2021 Met Gala. Mirrored liquid silicone embellishments were hand-molded and arranged in a 3D “laser maze” pattern on a nude illusion bodice melted onto gradient-dyed hand-pleated silk. Van Herpen spent 900 hours perfecting this design.
One of the show’s most captivating moments is Japanese collective Mé’s hyper-realistic wave installation, which explores van Herpen’s fascination with water. Her fall 2024 haute couture show referenced the aquatic architecture of Jacques Rougerie and Bjarke Ingels. Now she is experimenting a lot with artificial intelligence, but her search is still separate from the creative process. When the exhibition heads to Brisbane in June, she hopes to introduce an A-Iris system that can answer visitors’ questions about her clothes in real-time. “I wouldn’t want to give away the part that I consider the most personal and human. Creativity is one of the most valuable things we have as humans.
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