In her first runway show in over a year, designer Iris van Herpen's latest collection, Sympoiesis, is an ethereal, magnetic experience that perfectly encapsulates what van Herpen brings to the table. Where other designers are tiptoeing back and forth the border that are safe for the mass market, van Herpen goes all out.
Image by CHRISTOPHER MACSURAK from Wikimedia Commons
Presented in Paris during Haute Couture Week, in what seems to be an industrial style walkway, the captivating collection is certainly due to be considered one of van Herpen’s best yet. Sympoiesis is a futuristic yet traditional interpretation of biology and movement It encapsulates, in my opinion, an otherworldliness that has been missing in fashion lately.
Best said by James Lovelock's Gaia Theory, the ocean, it's climate, and the atmosphere are all working together. They're not independent, they're a team. Sympoiesis reflects this perfectly — all the elements of the designs work together wonderfully to create a perfect contrast against the rough emptiness of the runway; aquatic yet celestial, best shown in its opening look.
Modeled by Stella Maxwell, the very first look of the show radiates oceanic beauty — not to mention the way the dress and cape itself glow in the dark as the show begins. The whole look feels very nymph-ish and fantastical to me, like something you’d see out of a Narnia adaptation. The dress’ gentle glow is powered by bioluminescent algae; 125 million of them to be exact.
In the time before the runway show, the dress was stored in a chamber that mimicked replicated the behaviour of the ocean to ensure that the algae it was made of stayed alive, further drawing to the dress’s aquatic inspiration. Oddly enough, this fun fact which is seemingly meaningless in the context of the fashion world makes the attention to detail all the better. The organism emits a moon-like glow as Maxwell makes her way down the runway. The dress is very skeletal and almost rigid in a way, making it a stark contrast from the fluidity movements of the cape and rippling water tunnel the show opens in, evoking images of a coral reef within the vastness of the ocean.
Pyrocystis Lunula, the algae van Herpen used in her opening look
Out of the entire collection, my personal favourite has to be looks 10 and 11. As the pair comes on stage, the room goes dark and a giant blue laser appears, illuminating the metallic cloud-esque pieces.
They float around the runway as if they’re moments in time merely passing by. It’s as if the models can’t help but become one with what they’re wearing, walking completely in sync with the bouncing of the pieces they’re wearing.
The closing look though, modeled by Akuol Deng Atem, might just be one of the most angelic things I’ve ever seen. It feels like an angel in a renaissance painting stood up and walked right out of The Louvre. The structure of the back piece of the dress reminds me of the image of the human brain in da Vinci’s Creation of Adam, and almost serves the same meaning. The brain in the painting is a symbol of intellect and creativity, and Sympoiesis feels like an embodiment of that.
Image in the Public Domain, from Wikimedia Commons
Van Herpen's creations feel much more intimate than those her peers in the fashion world have been creating lately. Though many might be able to say that they use draping techniques like van Herpen, not very many can say that they took care of a life form as part of their runway show. Sympoiesis really highlights the designer’s creativity beyond her pioneering in the usage of 3D printing in fashion — it really shows how fashion could be blended with almost anything.
In recent years, it's felt like designers are more focused on playing it safe than creating art — like the most important thing is getting money from the buyers. This show feels like a breath of fresh air in the fashion industry after what I thought to be boring designs.
Iris van Herpen's past "Sculpting the Senses" exhibition from 2024
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