Fashion Law Journal
The Prismatic Prologue
The awakenings of the alchemists, the maddening mystique of crows, the bewildering illusions of smoke, the transcendence of technology, the mirage of myriad sensory perceptions, the metaphorical splash of water, and above all the tete-a-tete between the cosmos and its infinitesimal particle- Iris’s eye sees it all. Born in Warmel, Netherlands, the Dutch fashion designer, Iris Van Herpen, discovered the celestial constellation of materials, movements, shapes, and forms in her grandmother’s attic archives. Trained in classical ballet, her pursuit of perfection fetches inspiration from unveiling the forces dancing behind movements and the fragility of philosophical consciousness underlying fluidity. Van Herpen’s avant-garde universe consolidated during her formal years of education at the ArtEZ Institute of the Arts in Arnhem, following which she interned at the coveted Alexander McQueen, London[1].
The Ingenious Insignia
Nestled in the Groninger Museum, Netherlands, is ‘Chemical Crows,’[2] an eccentricity of dexterously layered yards of yarn that appears to be in motion. Concocting the penchant of crows and the transmogrification of alchemists, ‘Chemical Crows,’2008 was Iris’s debut on the futuristic take on couture. Van Herpen’s creations range from the ethereal vision of refinery smoke woven into a halo of shifting colors—from silver grey to rust—and transforming pleats, particles, and patterns into an elegant runway display in 2009. In ‘Synesthesia’ (2010), she molded human anatomy into a heightened sensory experience using leather with metal foil, empowering the wearer with a 360-degree sensory awareness. Van Herpen’s work celebrates the intricate connection between all forms of nature. Her devotion to imagining an intersection of interdisciplinary ingenuity birthed ‘Crystallization,’ 20102 which marked expanding territories into the realm of crafting couture for the future. Enamored by the dynamism of water, the design was painstakingly created using humble pliers and Plexiglas2 to elude the viewers’ minds into believing the dress to be a product of a meticulous industrial process.
Eternal Impressions
With an undying and effortless commitment to fashion the future with boundary-breaking designs and an ecstatic focus on symbiotic relationships between the organic chaos of elemental divinity, her rise to being undeniable was embedded in the collaboration with architect Daniel Widrig[3] which sculpted the first ever 3D printed garment to grace the runway marveling the metamorphism of the limestone. The Maison of Iris Van Herpen believes in venturing into the lesser-explored avenues of kinetics, cymatics and synchronicities and stitching a dialectic garment of the forces surrounding us. Van Herpen’s extravagant adventure in bio mimicry crowns her designs as befitting all eras and times.
Legal Motif and Motivation
Iris Van Herpen’s work exemplifies the challenges and opportunities of protecting cutting-edge fashion in a rapidly evolving world. The introduction of 3D printing, material innovation, and bio-inspired designs has led to genuine concerns in the realm of fashion law. Van Herpen’s collaboration with architect Daniel Widrig in creating the first-ever 3D-printed garment to grace the runway in 2011 raises key questions regarding intellectual property protection. Is it possible to patent a design that is largely based on technological processes? Does the industrial design of 3D-printed garments qualify for patent protection, or does it fall under fashion’s traditional copyright laws?
Fashion brands and designers are increasingly relying on intellectual property protections, such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks, to safeguard their innovations. For example, the novel process of 3D printing may be patentable, but the design itself—such as the aesthetic choice of form, the nuances of the shape—might be eligible for copyright. This dual protection strategy ensures that designers like Van Herpen control the commercial use of their work while igniting the development of new and more sustainable technologies in fashion.
Collaborations, Consciousness and Couture
‘Capriole,’ 2011[4], premiered the designer’s vision in Paris as a guest member of the elite Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. A leap in the air, concentrated in the dress shown through the diffusion of energy from the mind to the body is a phenomenal take on a free-fall parachute jump. Shattering the traditional norms of ‘being handmade,’ the snake dress takes fascinating inspirations from the works of architect Michael Hansmeyer, with acrylic sheets encircling the wearer in serpentine symbolisms. Through the windows of the next decade, Van Herpen writes an extraordinary soliloquy of nature through her designs that nurtured the proximity of microorganisms with the human skin drawing from the magnificent observational photography of Steve Gschmeissner and crafting a stunning, chronologically evolutionary and intrinsically sculptured spectacle. A thrilling take on couture, styled Iris’s ‘Voltage’4 line, in 2013, evoked an eclectic, dangerously beautiful and enchantingly risky aura of electricity, fostered by inspirations and collaborations with Carlos Van Camp. Collaborations with Philip Beesly[5] solemnized the vows between the energies of the environment. The duo envisaged and executed an exciting range of 3D fabrics that reciprocate the wearer’s flow and movement. Throughout Van Herpen’s vividly imaginative thought chain, sustainability has turned out an epoch to be achieved and a manifesto to be adhered to. A betrothal of sustainability to technology forms the epitome of the brand’s pioneering perspective on fashion. With Van Herpen as the monarch of fashioning for the future and fashioning the future, the promise of designing the divine supremacy of nature and its manifestation in the human body in the form of etching, scarification and surgery comes naturally as witnessed in the ‘Wilderness Embodied’ range of 2013. Using magnetism to orchestrate attraction and repulsion, Van Herpen and Van Der Wiel4 created dresses to showcase the unending parley between nature and nurture.
The Cosmic Charisma
Her rise from an admirer of the world to a creator of a world has been displayed in the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London amongst several other distinguished places. The cross-thematic atelier celebrates women’s empowerment by curating bespoke designs for its cosmopolitan clientele and leading ladies like Beyonce, Gigi Hadid, Scarlett Johannson, Lady Gaga, Cate Blanchett, and Jennifer Lopez[6]. The divine feminine is woven intricately into the fabric of unconventional and powerful expression. The Maison’s quintessential approach to innovation, invention and creation has questioned the .archetypal orbit of fashion and paved the way for an organically communicative, mutually symbiotic and trans-disciplinarian ambit of haute couture of the 21st Century for centuries to come.
Through the Kaleidoscope
A consummation between fashion and architecture leads to the genesis of designs that surpass time and trends. On May 6th, 2024, the world celebrated yet another sublimely sewn garment worn by the burgeoning entrepreneur Mona Patel making an appearance on the Met Carpet. The dress ‘Apsara’[7] was an ode to the timelessness of nature, a breathtaking specimen to be theoretically condensed and an exalted justice to the theme. As kinetic butterflies fluttered their pink-dusted wings edifying the collaboration between the Maison of Van Herpen and kinetic sculptor Casey Curan, the pink-hued dress exuded a golden glow, sweeping the carpet with a tail of layered textiles like an ethereal rabble of butterflies. Through her expressive designing orientation, the viewer encompasses amplified awareness of the substance of fashion and the wearer experiences the continuous inception of life through the elixir of inspirational creativity. Iris Van Herpen is a world in herself, a force of nature, beckoning aspiring designers to collaborate cohesively for a cosmic chasse directed towards infusing the soul into fashion, fashion into nature and nature into the celestial celebration of existence.
[1] “Iris van Herpen: Futura Couture,” Nowness ,https://www.nowness.com/story/iris-van-herpen-futura-couture (accessed May 17, 2024).
[2] “How Iris van Herpen Transformed Fashion,” Google Arts & Culture https://artsandculture.google.com/story/how-iris-van-herpen-transformed-fashion/MAVhbe0AS9KOLQ (accessed May 18, 2024).
[3] “Iris van Herpen, IVH Crystallization” Iris van Herpen ,https://www.irisvanherpen.com/DOCS/IVH-Crystallization.pdf (accessed May 18, 2024).
[4] “How Iris van Herpen Transformed Fashion,” Google Arts & Culture https://artsandculture.google.com/story/how-iris-van-herpen-transformed-fashion/MAVhbe0AS9KOLQ (accessed May 18, 2024).
[5] “Philip Beesley and Iris van Herpen,” University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design (italicized), https://stamps.umich.edu/events/philip-beesley-and-iris-van-herpen (accessed May 18, 2024).
[6] The Maison,” Iris van Herpen, https://www.irisvanherpen.com/about/the-maison (accessed May 18, 2024).
[7] “This entrepreneur was actually the best-dressed person on the 2024 Met Gala red carpet,” Business Insider, https://www.businessinsider.in/entertainment/news/this-entrepreneur-was-actually-the-best-dressed-person-on-the-2024-met-gala-red-carpet/articleshow/109934131.cms (accessed May 18, 2024).
Author Name: Aastha Kastiya
