Study on Modern and Innovative Haute Couture Designer Iris van Herpen

Abstract

Background Iris van Herpen is a young haute couture designer who is globally famous for her experimental designs on the central stage of modern haute couture, which is gradually changing. This study aims to examine the features shown in van Herpen’s unique designs and works to investigate haute couture design, changes that occur in the field of fashion design, and the innovative trends that are differentiated from conventional and existing methods. Methods In this study, an analysis is conducted of all of van Herpen’s collections, which span from 2007 to 2013, built as a haute couture archive on van Herpen’s official website. Following an analysis of van Herpen’s works and related information, van Herpen’s activities as a haute couture designer over time are described. The objects used in her works and the features of their presentation as shown in her collections are analyzed, and her innovative tendency shown in her designs and processes is identified. Results The objects presented in Iris van Herpen’s haute couture collections are classified into three categories: human body and nature, senses and emotions, and culture and technology. Iris van Herpen uses organic shapes, repetition, gradual change, and continuation to emphasize particular shapes. She finds new unfamiliar materials, and discovers her own unique structures and shapes through the process of finding solutions for them. Iris van Herpen makes new attempts not shown in conventional haute couture collections; for example, in her use of 3D printing, she suggests new points for existing values and methods. Her innovative inclinations shown in her collections and techniques include the introduction of advanced technologies through collaboration, the combination of creative technology and materials, and the construction and realization of imagination based on technologies. Conclusion Iris van Herpen, who intends to suggest the future of fashion through haute couture, is forging a path no one has taken. She works on the basis of discernment to see into presented objects, challenges and experimental spirit for novelty, and borderless collaboration. It is certain that her efforts will contribute to the occurrence of dynamic changes across the fashion industry.