Influenced by the current global wave of change and the need to inject new blood into today’s design world, Paris, once the capital that nourished elitism and the old, well-established ‘maisons de la mode’, embarks on its own mini-revolution through embracing new talent in its prestigious fashion rendezvous, as well as  allowing an open-door policy on the last day of the  shows.

This season, the traditionally privileged guests of the Paris Couture shows for Fall-Winter 2011-12 not only had the opportunity to watch the of the established couture houses’ creational extravaganzas, but also to watch the debut presentation of Iris Van Herpen– a collection that we could say was more of a line-up of sheer craftsmanship put into practice.

Iris Van Herpen, age 27 was born in the Netherlands.  She graduated from the prominent fashion school ARTEZ (Arnhem) with a Fashion Design degree and then carried out internships with  Claudy Jongstra and Alexander McQueen – whose influences pervade throughout in her style and techniques.  That which distinguishes her creatively, is that she manages to create a unique type of couture that combines the qualities of hand-worked materials with the sublime effects of digital technology. In Capriole, her latest collection, the designer presented five architectural looks, which she developed using this combined technique.

Particularly for this collection, she worked with the architect Isaie Bloch and MGX in making 3D prints, which were then mixed with fabric materials producing this startling result. The essence of Iris Van Herpen’s work relies upon her need to highlight the contradiction between beauty and regeneration. It makes her unique in expressing human individuality;

>> For me fashion is an expression of art that is very closely related both to me and to my body. I see it as an expression of identity combined with desire, moods and a cultural setting  <<  Iris Van Herpen

Nonetheless, we must admit that each single piece of the collection was sensational, including the shoes, which came to be great best sellers.  It is commonly said that the debut usually maps out the course of the future. Having this in mind, Iris Van Herpenprobably doesn’t need  to worry as she already has the green light in terms of entering the world of fashion. The Washington Post put it another way:  ‘No other designer on day one of the three-day-long couture calendar came anywhere near to pushing the envelope as far as Iris Van Herpen’.

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Discover the Capriole collection by Iris Van Herpen through the video and pictures that follow:

photo © Iris Van Herpen