The concept of biomimicry and the possibilities offered by biological dimensions have inspired Dutch designer Iris van Herpen throughout her collections. For her Haute Couture A/W 2018 designs, showcased at the beginning of July during Paris Haute Couture Week, van Herpen focused on synthetic biology and on the organic/inorganic dichotomy.
The result was a collection entitled "Syntopia", a term usually employed to describe a future that is neither dystopic nor utopic, and that is more or less identical to the present, but that in this case summarises a combination of technology and biology. The set featured a piece by Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta of Studio Drift, a duo concentrating mainly on biomimic artworks and immersive sculptures.
Studio Drift developed for the occasion a spatial kinetic installation entitled "In 20 Steps", constructed of 20 glass bars suspended by invisible cables.
The sculpture recreated a pair of wings and simulated all the different steps of flying in an abstract form. The fragile glass bird moved while the models walked down the runway, a correspondence of dynamic forces hinting at the ineraction between different worlds.
The designer moved from the technical aspects of bird flight and avian motion for her new collection, but also added another inspiration, chronophotography, applying this concept to the draping of a garment.
The opening offer included grey and cream coats and dresses in laser-cut wool decorated with woven leather that traced trellis-like motifs.
Though the silhouettes of the coats were not too different from those you may find in classic tailoring, the leather was digitally designed through parametric file making.
Two ample pleated tunics made with a luminous Japanese organza provided a hieratical interlude between science and biology, calling to mind visions of Mariano Fortuny in a high-tech key.
Soon biology returned, though, in a series of silk organza gowns created by adding up two-toned lasercut transparent layers heatbonded with Mylar and cotton that created a continuous movement when the models walked down the runway.
The technique was supposed to give an "inside a second" feel and slow down the movement of the fabric, exploring the ethereal time-lapse concept through a physical material. These garments entered in a dialogue with Studio Drift's piece, hinting at the chronophotographic lines of birdflight.
Coined by the 19th century French scientist, inventor and physiologist Étienne-Jules Marey, chronophotography defines photographs of movement from which motion could be studied. Often compared with Eadweard James Muybridge, a photographer who specialised in stop-action images of humans and animals, Marey also had a keen interest in how birds fly.
Marey's studies that captured movement in several frames were employed by the designer to drape a garment or to reproduce the layering of a bird's feather. As van Herpen stated in a press release for this collection: "By slowing down time into split seconds I started breaking down the usual draping of fabric, to then layer the milli-seconds all slightly shifted, like the layering of a bird's feather."
A bird's soundwave patterns was the inspiration for the "Mimesis" corset dresses (that moved a bit from van Herpen's beloved exoskeleton shapes...) in which the designer employed head-bonded laser-cut Mylar, black cotton, red organza and transparent black acrylic sheets to reproduce feather-like motifs.
The final number with its silhouette that restricted the arms and transformed them into wings layered with silk and acrylic was also inspired by the architecture of feathers.
There was actually one aspect of Marey's studies that links his work to more modern times: his images inspired indeed the Cubists, Futurists and Dadaists when they started studying innovative ways to present in a modern key ordinary perspectives.
If we think about this connection it becomes almost impossible not to link some of the dynamic designs on this runway to the works of artists such as Giacomo Balla - think for example about his multiple exposure paintings such as "Girl Running on a Balcony" or "Flight of the Swallows" .
That's when you realise that, rather than just playing with biology and science, these designs also seem to bridge the gap between photography from the Victorian times and modern paintings, they are indeed dedicated to contemporary velocity girls suspended between a human and an artificial dimension whose beauty you can catch in a time-lapse.
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