Iris van Herpen Fall couture 2018 – Paris Fashion Week

 (Images from Vogue.com and wwd.com the public domain. All rights. Used in promotion of the designer.)

I have been reviewing Iris van Herpen's couture Paris shows for a number of years now.  And have always admired and been captivated by her use of 3D printed materials, weaved and styled into her unique and impressive collections (Please refer to this link for prior reviews of her seasons).  She is probably the only fashion designer, at this point in time, who is directly experimenting with aspects of science and philosophy.  Merging the two into her own vision of technology and aesthetics amalgamated as one. Van Herpen's Fall 2018 collection represents the slowing down of time, within the context of her innovative fabrics, cleverly utilizing an overhead installation of glass tubes as a simulation of slow flowing movements. Her interest in physics, more Einstein's Special Relativity of time and the dilation of time, which entails the faster you go, the more time remains constant within your 'space', yet, around you time moves ahead. As the models walked with her latest couture creations, "zooming" in according to Van Herpan's description of both the installation and the show theme, is to represent time-lapsing; allowed her to accentuate a "second" within time of what it took to create her Fall 2018 collection.

Or is this Van Herpen's attempt to slow down time via an optical illusion?  Such is the philosophy of the Zennist, seen as one meditates, removing the self from past and the possibilities of future events. To live as one within the moment, experiments with scanning the brain waves of people skilled at meditation, showed that any predetermined unconscious action (an mental action before any physical response), was slowed down, as actions become less impulsive.

Either influenced from science or philosophy. Time, regardless how we perceive it, is only of the now and Van Herpen's show title "Syntopia" maintains the blending of biology and technology. A fine balance between the utopia and dystopia. Traditionally couture inspired gray wool coats laser cut with leather tassels (a possible trend emerging in 2018/2019 seasons), her stalwart 3D printed symmetrical pattern work, silicone/polyurethane weave shaped likes wings, as slow movements represent the instances of Van Herpen's collection as it remains static within a relentless Universe. However it is her sheer styles which hold an eternal sex appeal.  The science fiction costume representation are certainly on display with her Fall 2018 array. An adaptational suggestion for established and up and coming fashion designers, is to source new markets for their creations.  As streamed (Netflix etc) science fiction productions begin to put pressure on the traditional and competitive restrictiveness of Hollywood.

 A beautiful and serene collection for Iris van Herpen's couture Fall 2019.

Within the oceans of time, one cannot waste these fleeting moments.