The transformative potential of unconventional materials in fashion

Tue 10 Sep 2024

Iris van Herpen was born in the village of Wamel, near the town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the home of renowned Flemish painter Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450–1516). Growing up, she studied Bosch’s fantastical figures that mix alchemy, mysticism and allegory, and she retains the artist’s taste for hybridisation, an incessant questioning of human and animal nature and an interest in fusing both into chimerical beings.

Her spellbinding Snake dress (illustrated), for example, which both envelops and devours the form of the wearer, is inspired by the Greek legend of Medusa — a woman with writhing snakes for hair, whose look could turn people into stone.

Iris van Herpen ‘Snake’ dress 2011

Inspired by the myth of Medusa, van Herpen created the Snake dress in 2011, the year she joined the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. This garment, now an icon in the designer’s repertoire — worn by Björk performing at Roskilde Festival in Denmark in 2012 — is composed of thousands of black strips of glossy black PVC sewn onto a stretch tulle base. Allowing sinuous shapes to intertwine, this process reveals a sculptural silhouette in which the body is invaded by an entanglement of snakes.

This bronze sculpture by Papi (illustrated), after the sixteenth-century original by Benvenuto Cellini, represents the Greek myth of Perseus — the son of Zeus, the god of the sky and weather — who slays the Gorgon Medusa and rescues Andromeda from a sea monster. In his quest, he is aided by Hermes and Athena, together with the sisters of the Gorgons, who give him winged sandals to fly, the cap of Hades for invisibility, a curved sword, and a bag in which to conceal the decapitated head. As Medusa’s gaze turned all who looked upon her to stone, Perseus guided himself by using a reflective shield and beheaded Medusa as she slept. This myth inspired van Herpen to create her iconic Snake dress, from her 2011 ‘Capriole’ collection.

Van Herpen shares an interest in alchemy with Bosch, first exploring processes of transmutation in her inaugural collection ‘Chemical Crows’ 2008. To create the Alchemic dress (illustrated), she sewed hundreds of golden ribs from umbrellas onto leather straps, suggesting her early ability to see the transformative potential of unconventional materials.

Iris van Herpen ‘Alchemic’ neckpiece and skirt 2008

The Alchemic neckpiece and skirt was inspired by the medieval chemical science of alchemy, whose aim was the transmutation of base metals into gold. This neckpiece constructed from hundreds of golden ribs from umbrellas, has transported an everyday, and arguably overlooked, object into the realm of Haute couture. The ensemble — including the slim skirt made of bands of leather connected by hand-stitched, nylon-coated electrical wires — recalls a suit of armour, specifically a yoroi (samurai suit) (illustrated) worn by the warriors and rulers of feudal-era Japan.

Influenced by Symbolist and Surrealist literature, van Herpen’s designs in ‘Mythology of fear’, the seventh of nine exhibition themes in ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) until 7 October 2024, abound with metaphor, and she loves reinterpreting literary representations of transformation.

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DELVE DEEPER: Journey through ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’

Iris van Herpen ‘Bird’ dress 2013

Explorer of the ethereal and the elusive, van Herpen has taken a particular interest in the anatomy of birds in many of her collections. For the Bird dress (illustrated), from the ‘Wilderness Embodied’ collection 2013, she employs thin sheets of laser cut Dragon Skin™ silicone that are hand-sewn in numerous layers onto an ivory cotton base to suggest a cloak of plumage. Three bird skulls emerge from the abundance of luminous feathers, adorning the dress asymmetrically and adding a mythological dimension to this otherworldly garment.

Iris van Herpen ‘Radiation Invasion’ dress 2009

Worn by Lady Gaga in 2011 to Nevermind nightclub, Sydney, van Herpen’s Radiation Invasion dress (illustrated), from the 2009 collection of the same name, highlights the way the body is constantly invaded by electromagnetic radiation as we go about our daily lives — from microwaves, infrared light, ultraviolet light, visible light to X-rays. The garment also calls attention to the way we are bombarded with endless streams of digital information in our contemporary world. These radiation waves and data transmissions are embodied in the three-dimensional waves that have been hand-stitched onto an eco-leather bodycon dress. Each wave contains a metallic-coated strip that creates ripples of golden reflections, in turn visualising the omnipresence of radiation.

Iris van Herpen ‘Magnetic Moon’ dress 2013

Produced in collaboration with Dutch artist Jólan van der Wiel, van Herpen created the incredible texture of the Magnetic Moon dress (illustrated) using pure iron filings and large magnets. The filings were mixed into resin, and while the substance was still wet, it was applied to a cotton fabric base. Large magnets were then used to ‘sculpt’ the three-dimensional ‘moon’ surface, in a compositional process balancing the contradictory dynamics of control and chance. As the dress was drying, nano pigments in shades of teal, green and lavender were blown onto the surface, creating an iridescent sheen. Van Herpen was inspired by van der Wiel’s practice in which he creates ‘gravity’ design pieces — such as stools and candelabra inspired by natural organic forms — by exerting gravitational forces on plastic that has been infused with magnets.

Iris van Herpen ‘Argiope’ dress 2016

Inspired by the webs woven by Argiope spiders, the Argiope dress (illustrated) was modelled using Maya software to generate increasingly complex shapes. Blending cutting-edge technology and exquisite craftsmanship, the uninterrupted white lace pattern is printed in 3D, then hand sewn onto a base of black silk, giving the impression of a dress entirely contaminated by a complex web. Somewhere between nature and science fiction, this re-imagined spiderweb imprisons the body in an elaborate cocoon.

Watch | Journey through ‘Sculpting the Senses’

Watch | Iris van Herpen in conversation

‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ / Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Brisbane / 29 June to 7 October 2024, across the ground floor in The Fairfax Gallery (1.1), Gallery 1.2, and the Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery (1.3).

The exhibition is co-organised by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris and QAGOMA, Brisbane, based on an original exhibition designed by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.