Iris van Herpen Spring/Summer Collection at AIFW 2011

Iris van Herpen started her show with a clip of a naked woman surrounded by splashes of water.  That water appeared to be essential in her collection. Her ten looks represented ‘Crystallization’: the process of water turning into crystal.

Iris translated that process by giving water a determined form. Some outfits looked like someone had thrown a bucket of water over a model and time had frozen that water into an outfit. Exactly that opposition between fluid and hard materials was the starting point of the collection. There was also a strong contradiction between wearable and non-wearable items.

‘I’m fascinated by the fact that secret lines are hidden in fully transparent and fluid materials. At the moment this material freezes (when the crystal arises) this comes to life. It’s then that the symmetry and structure underneath become visible’, explains Iris.

Apart from the frozen water items Iris showed several strong handmade designs. Every detail of those outfits was perfection and must have taken hours to make. Yet those are the designs which define Iris as an artist.

One of the looks had a 3D print all over it. It was based on sculptures and made by the famous architect Daniel Widrig. Iris: ‘It took one computer hours and hours to make that print and it costs thousands of dollars, but it looks so good.’ So far Iris is the first fashion designer to work with this kind of 3D print.

Unfortunately Iris only showed ten looks today, but the clothes and the way she presented them made everything worthwhile. All models were filmed while they walked the runway. And as they moved a video was played on the catwalk in which you could see the models walking. ‘The models in the video were enlarged, so people could see the details of the clothes even when they were not sitting front row, says Iris.

The show was great and the reactions of the audience were wild. London is lucky to be able to show Iris’ whole SS2011 collection.