The dresses of the tech-savvy designer Iris van Herpen come to life in the graceful figures of ballet dancer Jingjing Mao, in a short film unveiled online last Thursday.

By Ludmilla Intravaia

As we know, Iris Van Herpen is one of the few, along with Hussein Chalayan, to have succeeded in raising technological fashion to the rank of pure art, in her case haute couture. And this, in complete transparency, the contribution of technology, in particular 3D printing or laser cutting, never being perceptible to the observer. It is therefore logical that the Dutch designer, passionate about dance, wished to explore this other artistic discipline, by teaming up with the Dutch National Ballet and its dancer Jingjing Mao. The result of this collaboration, the short film Biomimicry, refering to the design and production of materials and systems that are modelled on biological processes, was unveiled online last Thursday. For Iris van Herpen, "the dancer — symbolising strength and determination — finds herself in a future in which mankind, science and nature are closely interwoven", explains the press release accompanying the film, to be discovered below.

Iris van Herpen's collaboration with the Amsterdam-based Dutch dance company is a continuation of her multidisciplinary approach, as the designer regularly collaborates with artists, biologists, architects and scientists. Discover below the four dresses and the facial jewel worn by Jingjing Maoin in the film, from the following Iris Van Herpen’s collections (images : © Iris van Herpen) :

* Sensory Seas, Spring-Summer 2020 Haute couture collection