Fashion designing has come a long way from sketching designs by hand to utilizing 3D printing for creating them. And the pioneer for the use of this technology in fashion designing is none other than Iris van Herpen. But this is not her only claim to fame, she’s one of the fashions most gifted creators in the field, whose designs are only limited by her imagination.
Van Herpen held her first show in 2007 and after that, there was no looking back for her. She has devoted her mind and energy to create new forms and methods by fusing traditional and most outlandish materials to create her unique aesthetic garments.
This designer, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has made 3D printing as her major garment construction technique since it allows her to experiment with sculptural nature and innovative forms of fashion. Little wonder her designs are much sought after around the globe.
Van Herpen shares her vision on her website, thus, “The body and female forms are my canvas to visualize the invisible, shaping a continuous dance between craftsmanship and innovation. Within my designs I search for symbiotic relationships, exploring the hidden beauty at the intersection of precision and chaos, art and science, the artificial and the organic, that’s blending into finite hybrids. This philosophy of duality is ground to all my designs.”
What, according to van Herpen, influenced her thought process the most was her introduction to classical ballet. These ballet practices instilled in her the symbiotic relationship between body and mind, as also the ‘evolution’ of shape. Nature, too, inspires her. For her, moving water is nature’s most ingenious artist that stimulates her to sculpt the female form.
