Haute Couture SS19: Iris Van Herpen

IRIS van Herpen’s highly anticipated Shift Souls showed at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, proving that her collection transcends the label of couture – it is art. Inspired by the Harmonica Macrocosmica and early forms of celestial cartography, Iris van Herpen marries mythology and astrology in a perfect harmony.

Shift Souls focuses on Cybrids, a hybrid of humans and anima, translating the “mythological dreams of Humankind since the dawn of civilisation” into a collection of gradient-dyed laser-cut silk and translucent hand-plisse-ed organza.

The collection embodies femininity and romanticism, through its use of floating and sashaying silhouettes, exploring the fluidity of human identity, as envisioned by the designer herself. The laser-cut dresses hypnotise with the intricacy of their architecture and colour palettes and juxtapose the fragility of the soft organza.

The Cosmica looks layer translucent organza to encapsulate the clouds of the cosmos: delicate and ethereal, as though in a dream.

The Symbiotic dresses captivate the eye with the hypnotising dimensional structures that conspire to create bird-like shapes; we are transported into the realms of a different world created by the Dutch designer.

As Iris van Herpen marries mythology with couture, she fuses science and technology with her collection. as certain looks were elevated even further by the face-jewellery created by using 3D face scanning.

The finale was orchestrated through a collaboration with artist, Nick Verstand creating a spectacle emulating the clouds of a dreamscape through the subdivision of the event space using materialised laser walls. The LED lights embedded into the hems of dresses and the soles of shoes transpired the true imagination and genius of Iris van Herpen.

The stars truly aligned to create a collection as divine and transcendent as Iris van Herpen’s Shift Souls.

by Robyn Ngan