In yesterday's post, we looked at the possibilities of an AI generative platform designed to accelerate workflows for fashion designers and brands. However, faster doesn't always mean better. Speed often comes at the expense of creativity, well-being, and the human touch that defines the art of design. Slowing down, taking the time to reflect, breathe, and rediscover the essence of what we do (in all sorts of fields...), is indeed vital to regain the energy to go on in life.
In a recent interview with Women's Wear Daily, Dutch designer Iris van Herpen, a guest member of the Fédération de la Haute Couture since 2011, announced a change in her creative process. Starting this year, van Herpen will present just one couture collection annually, opting to showcase her designs exclusively in July. While her decision may be seen by many as financially motivated, given that reducing runway shows could lead to significant cost savings, this shift was actually prompted by the desire to dedicate more time to research and development.
While this decision means there will be no van Herpen collection on display this January, it signals that there may be further exciting collaborations ahead, maybe with artists, and scientists, with a potential expansion of designs (her collections usually feature around 15 looks).
Van Herpen's choice reflects the care she invests in her creations, her work after all often spans years of collaboration and material experimentation. A case in point: her visit to CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva years ago, marked a turning point in her design journey: inspired by the science behind the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), van Herpen carried out further researches into technologies and materials in the years that followed.
While van Herpen is no stranger to innovation, her work also pays homage to traditional couture techniques such as hand-pleating and embroidery, meticulous processes that require countless hours of development. Yet, integrating modern materials into these traditions demands even more time and experimentation.
While initially experimenting with 3D printing when it could only produce rigid structures, as advancements that could create softer, more pliable materials arrived on the scene, she integrated them into her designs, giving them a softer edge. Techniques such as silicon molding and water-jet cutting have also been integral to her creative evolution.
More recently, she has been exploring 4D printing - a cutting-edge process that builds on 3D printing techniques to create objects capable of altering their shape or properties predictably over time in response to environmental factors such as water, air, heat, or electric currents (at present, this technology remains in its infancy). On multiple occasions, she has expressed a desire to experiment with "Quantum Stealth," a (patented) non-powered adaptive camouflage that acts like an invisibility cloak by bending light around an object to make it seemingly disappear.
But carrying out experimenting with these techniques demands time (a resource often scarce in the fast-paced world of fashion...): for instance, in her 2021 collection, elite French skydiver Domitille Kiger wore a heavily embroidered gown while free-falling headfirst at 300 kilometers per hour. The creation of the "Skydiver Gown" posed unique challenges with fittings that took place not in an atelier but at the City Skydive wind tunnel in Utrecht and at an airfield in England. The process, driven by trial and error, required fabrics and embellishments capable of withstanding extreme wind forces. Similarly, her Spring 2023 couture collection showcased dresses that endured a week of submerged filming on French free diver Julie Gautier.
Exhibition organization is another area that requires a significant investment of time and in addition to her collections, van Herpen juggles the demands of exhibitions.
Her retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris ("Sculpting the Senses"), which also travelled to Brisbane, is also heading to the ArtScience Museum in Singapore this March and will then keep on travelling, going back to The Netherlands at the end of the year. Although curated by others, these exhibitions require the same level of care and creativity as her runway shows.
There isn't always a pressing need to produce something entirely new every six months, especially when it comes to couture. Besides, Van Herpen's couture clients don't necessarily select gowns from her latest collections, but opt for custom pieces or designs from her archives, adapting them to suit their vision.
While couture is often described as a "laboratory of ideas," setting trends that ripple into ready-to-wear collections, its frequency feels unnecessary in times of growing inequalities and global challenges. Instead, why not dream once a year and dream better? By pausing to reflect, experiment, and explore, Van Herpen demonstrates the power of patience and the beauty of deliberate creation in an industry often defined by relentless speed.
This philosophy could benefit other areas of fashion, including tradeshows. Imagine if these events dedicated more space to research and development rather than chasing fleeting trends. While R&D sections may not generate immediate revenue for organizers, they pay off in the long term by nurturing stronger and more innovative designers (after all, how many "next big things" heralded at Pitti in Florence over the past 15 years have endured the test of times?).
Taking time to breathe, rethink, and invest in the foundations of creativity is not just a luxury, but a necessity for ensuring a more sustainable and meaningful future for fashion.
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