Known for her abstract designs, Iris Van Herpen showcased her Fall 2016 collection, Lucid, with a runway show and art installation piece. Models walked around a dark room moving through a series of glass panels that distorted their image like a carnival hall of mirrors. The dresses, which were already extremely architectural and otherworldly in design, looked even more unearthly through their magnified reflections. We can’t say we’ve had any lucid dreams quite like it.
Working on a muted palette of neutrals and pastels, she sent sculptural dresses down the catwalk: some exaggerated at the hips, others hit high on the shoulders, while most ballooned out almost everywhere. Pieces seemed to interrupt their own detailing with harsh juxtapositions: a simple white tank top dress was covered in a gold geometric overlay and a dress was covered in spirals only to be sliced in half with sharp linear angles jutting out at the hip.
If there was anything she used more than volume and shape it was texture. Beading, mini pleats and 3D-printed panels hung over dresses turning them into visual pieces of art. Flexible thermoplastic polyurethane printing was used on a series of dresses which made them look like as if they were molded out of melted glass.
