Home Couture Iris Van Herpen fashion designer Maison Iris Van Herpen Fall-winter 2012-2013

Iris’ inspiration is yet another scientific experiment; It is drawn from a project lead by architect Philip Beesley called Holozolic Ground. His almost living sculptures and environments suggest that a future city could operate as a living being. Beesley collaborates with people from many different disciplines including Rachel Armstrong who uses concepts such as “living buildings” and “self-repairing architecture”; architecture that is self- sustainable and reacts to its changing environment. Iris see’s these possibilities of living technology as a future where design, art, architecture and even fashion will be radically changed: they will not constantly be newly made and after discarded, but they will become human creations that are partly alive and therefore able to change and able to improve constantly. The materials Iris applied to this collection are: mirrored copper sheeting, metallic coated stripes, UV-curable Polymer, silicone lace, Swarovski crystals, acrylic transparent sheets and Ecco leather. Iris also introduced a technique referred to as ’Mammoth Stereo lithography’ which refers to a method involving 3D printing. This 3Dprinted process is built slice by slice from bottom to top, in a vessel of polymer that hardens when struck by a laser beam. The colors of this collection are: black, dark red, dark blue, metallic aubergine and transparent amber. Iris’ Hybrid-Holism collection was produced in collaboration with architect Julia Koerner for the 3D printed dress, Heaven Tanudiredja for the clutches, United Nude for the shoes and Irene Bussemaker for the mask. The collection is in partnership with 3D print company Materialise and Swarovski.