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behind the scenes
May 1, 2016

The Designer Who Mixes Cutting-Edge Technology With Couture Tradition

By Véronique Hyland

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Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen

Factory smoke, lucid dreams, alchemy, synesthesia. These are the preoccupations that have taken up residence in Dutch designer Iris van Herpen’s brain and inspired some of the most out-there collections to ever walk a couture runway. The 31-year-old has been pegged as a “wearable tech” designer, a title she’s not entirely comfortable with. Though she was among the first to experiment with 3-D printing in fashion, she considers most wearable tech to be “too gimmicky.”

That said, van Herpen’s Amsterdam studio is a kind of laboratory, and she has enlisted scientists, architects, and computer programmers as co-conspirators. They bring, she says, “so much knowledge of materials and fabric construction that is not really known in fashion.” For example, she and product designer Jólan van der Wiel used iron filings as the base for dresses that they then shaped using magnets, and for the fall 2013 couture dress shown here, she assembled thousands of pieces of silicone to create a raised pattern.

Even though her results might look leagues more futuristic than Chanel’s intricate Lesage embroideries, van Herpen sees herself as squarely in the handcrafted tradition of couture. “Technology, for me, is just a tool,” she says. “The laser cutter or the 3-D printer — to me it’s equal to my hands or the hands of my team.” Yes, she has designed clothes that were printed by robots, but that collection was based on classical lacemaking techniques. (“The robots themselves are not so interesting to me.”) In fact, many of her handmade pieces have been incorrectly reported online as being 3-D printed, and 3-D ones have been mistaken for handmade, suggesting that even experts can barely tell the difference. “People really have particular ideas about the future,” she says. “ ‘Sci-fi-looking’ is an idea that people still have from movies from the ’80s.”

Several of van Herpen’s pieces will appear alongside Hussein Chalayan’s “Kaikoku” floating dress and Chanel’s 3-D-printed suit in the Costume Institute’s upcoming exhibit “Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology,” opening May 5. Curator Andrew Bolton says, “She’s like the Marie Curie of fashion.” Tilda Swinton, a longtime wearer of van Herpen, calls her “completely supersonic.” Told that the designer is experimenting with a material called dragon skin, she jokes, “It’ll be unicorn fur next.”

Van Herpen has her eye not on unicorns but a kind of proto–invisibility cloak the U.S. military is patenting that works by bending light waves. She likes the idea of using it to highlight different body parts: “It’s like cutting and pasting in real time with the body.” If anyone can make invisible fashion eye-catching, it’s van Herpen.

*This article appears in the May 2, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.

Related

Inside the Costume Institute’s Tech-Inspired Fashion Exhibit
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1 / 13 Photos
For this dress, Iris van Herpen looked to the scarification rituals practiced by some African tribes. “They make really small cuts in their skin, put ... For this dress, Iris van Herpen looked to the scarification rituals practiced by some African tribes. “They make really small cuts in their skin, put some ash in it, the skin heals, and you have these really beautiful 3-D patterns. It’s like a 3-D tattoo.” She initially sketched the pattern by hand. Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
Van Herpen used a material called dragon skin, which is a type of silicone that is used in Hollywood for special effects and previously by the militar... Van Herpen used a material called dragon skin, which is a type of silicone that is used in Hollywood for special effects and previously by the military as body armor. Her team made molds, shown here, and sent them to a laser-cutting company as a guide for the size and shape of the pieces. Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
The team constructed mannequins from clay and coated them with two thin layers of dragon skin. The forms were left to dry overnight in a box covered w... The team constructed mannequins from clay and coated them with two thin layers of dragon skin. The forms were left to dry overnight in a box covered with plastic wrap. “We just don’t want any dust from the ceiling falling in the dress,” van Herpen explains. Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
The pattern, which had been transferred into Adobe Illustrator, was then printed on paper … Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
… And then traced onto muslin, using a pen that is applied through the paper. Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
Once the several thousand pieces of laser-cut dragon skin arrived, they were meticulously applied to the surface of the dress with tweezers, a process... Once the several thousand pieces of laser-cut dragon skin arrived, they were meticulously applied to the surface of the dress with tweezers, a process that took a four-person team three to four weeks. Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
Says curator Andrew Bolton of the effect, “It’s almost like contemporary embroidery.” Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
Petra, van Herpen’s pattern-maker, served as the fit model. “She’s not a model, but she has good proportions,” says the designer. Photo: Courtesy of ... Petra, van Herpen’s pattern-maker, served as the fit model. “She’s not a model, but she has good proportions,” says the designer. Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
The dress was constructed in two pieces, the front and the back. Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
A silk lining and a layer of cotton were added beneath the dragon skin, as was a zipper (which is attached to the layers). Photo: Courtesy of Iris Va... A silk lining and a layer of cotton were added beneath the dragon skin, as was a zipper (which is attached to the layers). Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
A final coating of liquid silicone sealed the front and back of the dress together seamlessly. “We turned the mannequin around like a piece of meat on... A final coating of liquid silicone sealed the front and back of the dress together seamlessly. “We turned the mannequin around like a piece of meat on a barbecue, so everything is liquefied,” explains van Herpen. Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
After the neckline and armholes were trimmed with a knife, the dress was cleaned using a Q-tip coated in a soap-and-water mixture. Photo: Courtesy of... After the neckline and armholes were trimmed with a knife, the dress was cleaned using a Q-tip coated in a soap-and-water mixture. Photo: Courtesy of Iris Van Herpen
“After every collection, people are fascinated by the material and want to know what it was. I remember hearing a lot of, ‘How did she do that, was it... “After every collection, people are fascinated by the material and want to know what it was. I remember hearing a lot of, ‘How did she do that, was it 3-D printed?’” says van Herpen. But the process, which took several months from start to finish, was much more labor-intensive. Photo: Imaxtree
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  • new york magazine
  • costume institute
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