Iris van Herpen S/S 2014 Paris

[Psylocke]

Is this her first attempt at RTW? I'd consider it a fail The 2nd and 4th look are especially bad.


source: nowfashion.com






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[Psylocke]

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nowfashion.com

 

[Scott]

well you can certainly tell she's attempting something a bit more down-to-earth. and it's not so much the idea behind the collection because i do appreciate the realness of it.....it's just the execution within the clothing themselves that feels so lacking. while her textures look really beautiful as always,the shapes look like there's no thought,technique or effort behind them. and that's a shame for somebody who actually knows how to design and uses so much architecture in her HC collections.

 

[Nymphaea]

WWD: Iris van Herpen RTW Spring 2014

Guests arriving at Iris van Herpen’s debut women’s ready-to-wear presentation at Club Silencio on a weekday afternoon could be forgiven for thinking the clock had jumped forward a few hours: Inside, the scene was a cross between an art happening and a louche nightery.

Models dotted through the darkened venue writhed hypnotically in outfits including a slate gray buttonless coat in a lightweight high-gloss fabric, cagelike skirts and tops woven from lacquered leather laces, and a pony hair jacket overlaid with thick silver chains.

With guests including Tilda Swinton looking on, some models stood still while others touched the raised 3-D motifs pressed into their leather dresses and vests, generating musical notes that blended into a background of throbbing electronic music.

As Saskia de Brauw undulated on a small stage in a sleeveless dress embroidered with glossy strips of Plexiglas layered over a long crinkled skirt, the sound appeared to fall in synch with her movements. The moment perfectly captured van Herpen’s ominous, yet compelling, vision of a technocentric future.

wwd

Iris Van Herpen makes some music in conceptual ready-to-wear debut

If clothes could make music, what would they sound like?

This was the abstract question that Iris Van Herpen — better known for her couture creations — answered during her official Paris debut in ready-to-wear.Van Herpen used state-of-the-art technology to stage an evocative underground performance, deep inside David Lynch’s Paris nightclub, “Silencio,” where models writhed against each other clad in dark shimmering dresses with touch-sensitive electronic chips inside sinewy ribs on the material.

Caressing each other in scenes that could have been lifted from a Lynch film, the models’ touches sent out audio signals to the DJ booth in the club, producing a macabre electronic musical aria that resonated around the rooms.

The atmosphere nicely complemented the darkness of the looks, which featured a great techno-fabric on a cropped jacket and cross-over dress that gave off a watery, metallic sheen.

Guests including Tilda Swinton sat around metal benches around the dimly lit nightclub floor and looked on in curiosity.

“My boyfriend is a musician, and makes a piece music for each dress I design ... Now I’ve started to imagine music and a sound for each dress I make, so I wanted to explore this,” said the 29-year-old designer, who’s dressed singers such as Lady Gaga and Bjork in her couture designs.

A black skeletal sheath made of leather had the dark, organism-like feel of her exaggerated couture creations, but with a simpler silhouette that fits more to the body.

“My couture is similar to the ready-to-wear, because it comes from the same heart,” Van Herpen said.

With only 16 looks on display, next time it would be nice to see the talented designer broaden her repertoire with a larger collection.

washingtonpost

 

[Psylocke]

^Thanks for posting those reviews, Nymphaea. Sounds like the presentation was pretty awesome. Not sure how such a conceptual show will eventually benefit the supposed RTW character of this collection. And after a rather lackluster HC collection this seems a little confusing.

And I agree with you, Scott. Her ideas don't seem to translate well to the more wearable shapes here. I would probably wear that silver mini dress myself, it's nice; but nothing completely wows me here. It's very mediocre and some of it is plain unattractive. But, it's a start and it should be interesting how she continues with doing both HC and RTW from now on.

 

[Scott]

you know her work does kind of make me think of another former talent in hamish morrow who was known for his own technologically inspired p-a-p....the only difference of course is that i feel morrow had more variety in his design. i think if iris can continue evolving and moving forward i don't see why she can't make p-a-p work as a medium for her as dynamically as she has HC.

 

[Nymphaea]

You're welcome Psylocke. I agree with you guys. The HC of her is much more impressive, this looks quite lackluster. I'm curious what her next ready-to-wear collections are going to look like, hopefully a bit more interesting, but the presentation sounds cool. I'll wait and see.
I saw some pieces of her at The Corner, and her jacket is awesome: http://www.thecorner.com/nl/women/leather-outerwear_cod59137716hf.html

 

[Scott]

okay i have altered my opinion after seeing a couple looks from diane pernet. the clothes look so,so much better in this light...that's why i like look-books and showroom shots better. you really get a better sense of the simplicity of the silhouette and i understand what i see more.

http://dianepernet.typepad.com/diane/2013/10/a-visit-with-iris-van-herpin.html

 

[Scott]

the catwalk also looks better here-

http://www.sz-mag.com/news/2013/10/iris-van-herpen-ss-2014-paris/

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Some of that embossed (is it?) leather looks great; love that little zip up jacket shown with the long skirt.

 

[SGaspar]

She's not a good designer, she can't translate his apparently impressive couture designs into weareable things. And even if she's not translating them, this is plain boring, common and, in some cases, not weareable at all. And her couture is starting to look repetitive. To me that's an indicative of a bad fashion designer. She's more an ingeneer than an entrepenur, and I don't say it in a good way.

 

[Deleted member 119799]

she's not even an engineer as all the exciting stuff she has made in the past she didn't even do herself, she just rides on other people's talent

she's a good networker at best

 

[SGaspar]

she's not even an engineer as all the exciting stuff she has made in the past she didn't even do herself, she just rides on other people's talent

she's a good networker at best

True tea, I completely agree with you.

 

[Menace]

she's not even an engineer as all the exciting stuff she has made in the past she didn't even do herself, she just rides on other people's talent

she's a good networker at best

source: tumblr.com


In all seriousness, I think she is talented. I mean, she obviously comes up with these visions and imagery, even if a computer prints it for her and a computer programmer has to map it out for her. She's still the "designer." I mean, designers hire seamstresses and pattern makers so I don't think she should totally be discredited for the fact that she doesn't actually make the bulk of her stuff... also this is ready to wear!

Having said that, I do think this RTW collection is very lackluster and her HC collections are getting very repetitive.

 

[Deleted member 119799]

i do want to give her some credit, as she was the first (i think) fashion designer to use 3d printing to make clothes and shoes.

it's just that her best work has always been collaborations with other artists, designers and architects and the stuff she has made that weren't collaborations was never as strong.

what i have a problem with is for instance these magnetic grown dresses:
http://www.dezeen.com/2013/07/30/magnetic-grown-dresses-by-iris-van-herpen-and-jolan-van-der-wiel/
it's a very impressive technique, but it's just someone else's idea applied onto some odd garments

it's such a weird way of working, actually that comment on that page sums up my frustrations with her work perfectly.

'Van Herpen is great in absorbing other people's research, branding herself as design innovator with work completely based on the genius of her collaborators'

 

[Scott]

while i agree that she does tend to be reliant on the innovations of other people,at the end of the day she is the one that still manipulates and executes all of those collaborations. otherwise,i see no difference in what she's doing than what other designers do when they work with artists on print and such. the only difference is here is that she's utilising the innovations in other platforms and applying them to fashion.

 

[Menace]

^Agreed

and looking at it more, the embossed leather pieces are pretty great.

 

[Nymphaea]

Iris is great at details, but they are so small to be noticed immediately or appreciated enough. I'm a bit worried that's the reason she won't reach the top or fades away.

 

[Psylocke]

'Van Herpen is great in absorbing other people's research, branding herself as design innovator with work completely based on the genius of her collaborators'

I agree with what they say here, too. But at the same time I think that the idea of collaborating with other artists instead of just drawing inspiration from them is actually a beautiful thing. Most designers have people helping them in executing their ideas and such, it may be a bit more transparent in her case, but I don't see it as being a weak point when it comes to her work. I definitely agree that her collaborations are her best work, and that her HC collections have gotten too repetitive. But I would not go as far as saying she is not a talented designer, I see a lot of potential in her. But I just can't warm up to this RTW debut at all.