Always creating fantastic aesthetics and eccentric pieces, Iris Van Herpen showcased a grand and extravagant fall/winter 2019 haute couture collection, themed Hypnosis. With a high level of difficulty, the famed French fashion brand succeeded to leave the audience in awe.
Iris Van Herpen, Creative Director of the eponymous designer label, was inspired from the work of American Artists Anthony Howe. One of Howe’s artwork is a three-dimensional cyclical of kinetic sculptures. It inspires her to create the signature technique used on the pieces, hypnotic manifolds.
“The ‘Hypnosis’ collection is a hypnotic visualization of nature’s tapestry, the symbiotic cycles of our biosphere that interweave the air, land, and oceans. It also reflects the ongoing dissection of the rhythms of life and resonates with the fragility within these interwoven worlds,” Herpen explains. Herpen believes that Hypnosis is a reflection of the beauty and the complexity of the environment.
One of the key looks from the collection is the Infinity dress that closed the show as the finale silhouettes from all 19 translucent pieces served on the catwalk. Multi-layered luminous organza spheres, engineered skeleton of stainless steel and bearings with delicate feathers embroidery flows throughout the collection.
To make the high artistry and crafted pieces, Professor Philip Beesley, a professor of neurobiology uses ten thousands of mini ripples to dissect the dress through each movement of the body, leaving a bare skin between the spheroid patterns. Also, other pieces involve 0.8 mm of a wave that is interlinked to create an illusion of the eye. Now, that is called haute couture!