Crystallization Dress by Iris van Herpen

Couturier Iris van Herpen joined forces with Nick Knight and Daphne Guinness to create a new Crystallization dress during a live broadcast earlier this year. Knight captured Guinness being splashed with black and clear water [video here] using high speed cameras, and then offer up the footage as reference imagery for van Herpen to create a one-of-a-kind water dress. During a week long live broadcast, SHOWstudio showcased van Herpen’s ability to combine archaic crafts with futuristic technologies to create a shape shifting garment that defies logic. All the while, viewers from across the globe were able to put their questions to the designer and probe her inspirations, techniques and aspirations.

Iris Van Herpen’s dress is viewable to the public in SHOWstudio’s recently launched gallery venture, the SHOWcabinet. The outcome of the project will be presented this autumn at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Iris van Herpen’s SHOWcabinet presents a world where time dissolves and disciplines intertwine. Van Herpen’s collaborative approach to her couture has resulted in collections that defy categorisation. In her work, fashion, science, art and technology are not separate subjects, but flow from a single source.  The water dress, which forms the centre piece of the installation and was made during a 7 day live broadcast at SHOWstudio, depicts the fleeting moment of a splash wrapping itself around the body in a wearable garment. Inspired by an actual splash on Daphne Guinness recorded on high speed camera by Nick Knight, van Herpen sculpted her creation from pet G plastic and mimicked the patterns created by the natural movement of the water. In previous collections, van Herpen has embraced new technologies such as 3D printing and laser sintering, and her name has become synonymous with interdisciplinary and collaborative design.

All info and images © SHOWstudio

Crystallization Dress by Iris van Herpen