This striking innovation set the stage for a career defined by materials and techniques both unconventional and pioneering – not only turning heads in the fashion industry, but also catching the attention of audiences interested in technological progress at large. “I feel very thankful that we reach audiences far beyond the fashion world, demonstrating the importance of collaboration between different disciplines. We need help to create new tools to evolve the craftsmanship we already know; these are small steps towards closing those really open waters between these disciplines.” The importance of this perspective reaches far beyond personal ambitions and intrigue, and relates directly to Van Herpen’s growing sense of urgency and responsibility towards the dire state of our climate. “In the last few years, sustainability and our vision towards the future has become increasingly important. I realize the industry we work in is one of the few that will help determine the future of our planet.”

“I see couture as a laboratory for the future of fashion—one where experimentation can help us create a new system that makes sense in the 21st century.” Beyond representing an antithesis to mass production, each garment is created on demand and able to be produced with zero waste. Couture holds the potential to pioneer alternatives for a revamped fashion industry of tomorrow—using new technologies to develop sustainable textiles and production techniques. “Couture is where fashion is closely connected to art and where fashion has the space to take risks. Risk taking is essential in moving forward.” When I asked whether van Herpen sees herself as part of that revolution, her response is characteristically grounded and ambitious: “I feel I can inspire people, by demonstrating that it can be done differently. I can only hope to create a little wave that will feed a bigger wave.”

While her work is radically future-facing, Iris van Herpen senses a discord in our contemporary perception of the world. While technology may provide tools to reinvent the industry, she fervently believes that answers can only be found in acknowledging nature’s extraordinary intelligence, complexity and beauty. An abundance of her collections are inspired by natural patterns and elements, including membranes, fossils, soundwaves and smoke. Yet viewers often experience and describe these designs as fantastical, as other. Van Herpen is visibly enthralled when we breach the subject. “It seems that we have separated ourselves spiritually from nature. But we are nature. Even the things we create are nature.” She is on the brink of something quintessential to her worldview. She radiates confidently and calmly as she shares that she finds comfort in knowing that “nature has done it all, and better. In that sense, nature is my biggest mentor and muse.”

Van Herpen shares her fascination for entangling art and nature with a long-standing friend, Björk. Their partnership emerged around Björk’s 2011 Biophilia album, when she wore a dress based on Van Herpen’s Synesthesia collection (F/W 2010). Many collaborations later, for her Cornucopia show in New York last year, Björk invited Van Herpen to produce a garment visualizing the theme of her latest album, Utopia: a sci-fi soundscape of a post-apocalyptic world. The result was an interactive and sculptural custom dress, a future orchid-avatar, entitled Sphaera. I ask her how she experiences creating with someone else’s vision in mind; she is brimming with enthusiasm as she shares: “Björk is one of those rare people that mixes the very pure relationship she has with nature into these newly imagined worlds of chaos, technology and the unknown. Her utopic vision towards our future, the transformations that await us, blends these primal emotions with a very natural need for beauty, and that inspires me. She really is a muse to me.”

Van Herpen is a woman of seemingly boundless creativity and fascination.  Whether drawing from the textures of the deep sea, environmental philosophy or her trailblazing contemporaries, her expansive vision all comes together in a silhouette, encircling the female form.  It should come as no surprise that her designs draw in an impressive sequence of striking, front-running women (and on occasion men) from their many corners of show business.  Placing her works of art under the glamorous Hollywood spotlight, an impressive roll call of A-list celebrities have worn her conceptual creations on the red carpet, in magazines and music videos, or as part of her phenomenal couture shows: Celine Dion participating in her Hypnosis runway, Naomi Campbell at Paris Fashion Week, FKA Twigs in Vogue magazine, Eva Green at various Hollywood red carpets, Solange at the Met Gala and Lady Gaga at the Toronto International Film Festival, to only name a few.  “I feel very lucky for the women we’ve worked with – they are some of the most extraordinary women I have ever met,” Van Herpen says.  A personal connection is a fundamental condition to each of these collaborations – these women are not simply dressing in a garment by Iris van Herpen, they are participating in her art. “The garments are not complete until they are worn by a woman. That’s when the magic happens and it comes to life. It transforms into an expression of identity, and that is something I cannot design.” Just as her designs are transforming the industry, they are transformative in themselves.  “It’s a lifecycle, in my eyes. I find it incredibly beautiful when the circle of life is completed.”

As society at large lives in a form of quarantine, we circle back to Van Herpen, to weigh in on how her visionary perspective entangles with the crisis in real time. Within weeks, even moments, her dire call for action has been drastically underlined by circumstance – we need change. “The current worldwide pandemic is an important moment for our industry and all brands to stop and re-evaluate their future goals and their integrity, to implement a change of direction.” The future of fashion – the future of our planet – needs us to rethink our ethics and techniques moving forward. Her grounded optimism remains unwavering; investing in innovation and sustainability offers real alternatives to the decades of detrimental developments in our past. “Collaboration and the sharing of expertise among specialists in diverse disciplines is the future of fashion. This will advance fashion in ways previously unimaginable.” Seeking answers in transformation, Iris van Herpen envisions how embracing radical change can pave the way towards a sustainable future of fashion, one which naturally adapts to the times. Following her lead, with open eyes and open minds, we take our first steps into a changed world.