This Iris van Herpen Couture collection was inspired by early examples of celestial cartography and its representations of mythological and astrological chimera, Van Herpen was particularly taken with "Harmonica Macrocosmica", a star atlas by the German-Dutch cartographer Andreas Cellarius, published in 1600. With the advances in DNA engineering and the first successful creations of human/animal hybrids called 'Cybrids', the mythological dreams of Humankind since the dawn of civilization are shifting to the canvas of science. While the scientific and ethical implications of 'Cybrids' are still unclear. This collection expresses the fact that this reality is upon us. For 'Shift Souls' she looked at the evolution of the human shape, its idealization through time and the hybridization of female forms within mythology. Especially the imagination and the fluidity within identity change in Japanese mythology gave her the inspiration to explore the deeper meaning of identity and how immaterial and mutable it can become within the current coalescence of our digital bodies. The collection consists of eighteen looks with focus on dissected and voluminous layering, and a warm color palette of ochre, tyrian purple, and indigo pigments. The 'Harmonic' silhouettes are voluminous spheroid dresses that unfold vibrant patterns through translucent gradient-dyed organza that is plissed by hand. The 'Symbiotic' volumes are made from gradient-dyed silks that are multi-layered into sculptural shapes by a fine 3D lasercut frame of PETG to create hybrid bird shapes in dimensional color gradations that hover in symbiosis with the body like mythological creatures.
Mood: Shift Souls
Lengths: all, from sculptural minidresses to long dresses that mark the feminine shapes up to wide and scenographic dresses that are pure avant-garde with plissè games and sumptuous trains
Volumes: they are sculptural shapes that live on volumes in every part of them. Everything is spectacular
Colors: taupe, indigo, blue, orange, red, white, violet, light blue
Fabrics: technological and experimental fabrics, silk, organza
