New Worlds: Iris Van Herpen | Ready-to-Wear Paris Fashion Week Autumn Winter 2015-16

When a designer's collection is based around the concept of terraforming––the act of turning an inhospitable planet into a livable biosphere for humans––you know the designer is pushing fashion into extraordinary dimensions. Dutch Designer Iris Van Herpen has established herself as one of fashion's premier futurists; embracing high tech textiles and fabrication techniques to create new and exciting silhouettes. The designer boldly reshapes our idea of fashion aesthetics in an era of unprecedented science and technological development.

For this season Iris Van Herpen presented a compelling realized vision of this new terraformed world, in garments that channeled her interest in science and technology with a sci-fi aesthetic that felt remarkably prescient––will time prove her right?

Notions of terraforming were visibly demonstrated through fabric treatments. One standout material was a combination of stainless steel and silk, resulting in a fine fluid dress silk. The use of intense heat application to burn the bespoke fabrics created a distinctly unique discoloration and texture, akin to a molten oil spill. Her signature use of three dimensionality continued to impress with shoes featuring clusters of scanned crystals 3D printed into eye catching footwear. The sci-fi themes that underpinned the collection had their most obvious visualization in a dress whose pattern resembled the sand suit of David Lynch’s 1980’s Dune film, while handwoven knits––a new addition to her universe, spoke to the wearability at the heart of the collection.