Iris van Herpen on bringing her couture to Asia

Better defined as a fashion sculptor, Iris van Herpen’s couture designs blend movement, anatomy, and architecture to craft gravity-defying pieces. Since founding her brand in 2007 and showing on schedule at Paris Haute Couture week since 2011, the Dutch designer has embraced technology in ways that reimagine the boundaries of couture, asserted as an early pioneer of 3D printing in fashion. Now, as she shifts to presenting her couture collections only once a year in July, Van Herpen’s supporting a slower industry. By fusing high-tech innovation with organic, flowing structures inspired by nature’s unseen forces — wind, water, and even magnetism — Van Herpen’s garments appear less like fabric and more like living, breathing works of art. That bold artistry has led the house to be invited on external projects over the years, such as having wrapped a Rolls-Royce in haute couture, and even designed a dress out of cocoa beans for Magnum. Financial data for Iris van Herpen's company in 2024 is not publicly available; however, the designer referenced solid results in conversation with Jing Daily. The label’s most recent reported revenue from 2021 amounted to $6 million. Van Herpen’s statement otherworldliness has secured Björk and Lady Gaga as frequent wearers, among starring in other pop culture moments such as being behind the Heliosphere gown for Beyoncé's Renaissance tour (2023). Interestingly, Van Herpen's designs have remained rather Western-centric in terms of influencer marketing, having never worked with any K-Pop idols through the scope of her career. In this exclusive Jing Daily Masterminds interview, Van Herpen discusses the Singapore opening of Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses (from March 15), as well as her design philosophy, and the evolving role of technology in fashion. Jing Daily: Where else do you find most of your inspiration nowadays? Iris van Herpen: My process of inspiration is always like an evolution. So, it's not set in stone. Whereas some designers have a mood board, for me it's an ongoing process. For my next show in July in Paris, I have a whole series of inspirations. Nature is one of my biggest sources. For the past one and a half years or so, we’ve lived next to a bird sanctuary out of the city. I learn all about the species there, and how the seasons are related to them and all the layers of life within nature. Dance is another big source of inspiration for me so I go to dance performances a lot. Then there are exhibitions, conversations with people… There’s an ecosystem of creativity around me. JD: As a pioneer in 3D printing fashion, in what ways has new technology been part of your latest evolution as a couturier? IVH: The interesting thing is really how innovative nature is itself. People think of technology when they think about innovation but I see technology as a very primal version of nature. Nature is much more advanced. Over the last few years our innovation has been very much steered toward sustainability in the sense of creating new materials, biodegradable materials, and new ways of recycling. JD: You seem to embrace technology a lot in your work, do you have any anxieties about it as a fashion designer? IVH: Yeah, absolutely. It’s such a powerful tool and our lives are very much steered by technology on a daily basis. I’m not specifically worried about technology in the sense of fashion but more as a societal tool of power. I grew up with very little technology. My parents never had a television or computer because it just wasn’t needed. My friends at school used to ask me what I would do at night if I wasn't watching TV. I was always making something, exploring something… I guess that influenced what I do now. All that wandering, experimenting, creating… It’s a very important part of who we are as human beings, and it’s just so tempting to give too much of your time to your apparatus. JD: Could you tell us about the Rolls Royce collaboration and what you learnt about the automotive industry in that project? IVH: It was wonderful to work with them. I used to think of car design as this very mechanical world but the beauty of the world really stood out to me, it’s so related to what I do. The bespoke nature too. There’s so much craftsmanship and knowledge going into car design. Some of my team went to the Rolls Royce factory to work and their team came to us to do some of the hand-work, it was a really in-depth collaboration and that doesn’t always happen. So it was really beautiful, especially as two disciplines which seem so far away from each other. I was so inspired by how much they talk to the clients in such a personal way and really craft their cars as a one-off. JD: Is there a reason that you don’t do many brand collaborations? IVH: One important element [of brand collaboration] is being really selective, because when you do it well, you really want to put the minds together in a personal way. It takes a lot of time. You first have to get to know each other, and then you go into a creative process together. A lot of the collaborations take two or three years after my first conversation. Rolls-Royce took about two and a half or three years in total. JD: Do you see a lot of interest from China, and what are the characteristics of your consumers there? IVH: Some brands can separate their types of consumers. It’s different in my case. Couture is very selective, and the clients are always people who are interested in fashion and art, or perhaps art collectors. It’s a very specific type of person. It’s hard to differentiate between clients in China or in Europe. People come to me with such a personal approach or they will feel inspired by a few looks and ask for advice. In Asia, if we are speaking generally, there are more skin coverage requests. Although other than that, everyone is very open minded to the whole process. JD: What’s one thing you wish you knew from the start of your career about the industry? IVH: That’s difficult because sometimes it’s better to not know things. You grow throughout the years. What I can handle today is so different to what I could 17 years ago. I was very innocent when I started my label and had no idea about the industry. Now I’m not too bothered if something doesn’t work out. I’ve always enjoyed the process of experimenting but also failing, and things going differently to how I imagined. In the early years, I was not stubborn enough. I think as a designer or artist, you attract people who will have their opinion on how to do things. I think people should make their own decisions. You don’t have to listen to everyone. It’s important to create your own identity as a creative, but it is also important to create your own terms of business. Creatives are scared so they easily go to people for advice in business but you can be creative with your business model and there can be a lot of strengths in that. JD: Tell us a bit about your new Sculpting the Senses exhibition in Singapore. Why did you decide now is a good time to do an exhibition in Asia? IVH: Well, I've been working towards my exhibition in Paris for many years, and until we presented that exhibition, we could not do a large exhibition somewhere else, in terms of agreement, but also in terms of my time division. So after Paris, we wanted to travel to as many places that we can imagine and what is so amazing I think about Singapore is that my vision for Paris was for it not to be a classical fashion exhibition. I'm a haute couture designer, but I'm working with so many different disciplines, and the work is so diverse that I really wanted this to be an exhibition that crosses all these borders, so it doesn't only attracts people that are interested in fashion, but people that are interested in science, in art, in architecture, in sculpture. JD: What’s to come for 2025? IVH: I'm working on two collaborations that I'm really excited about. I'm working on a commercial collaboration, but I cannot talk about that yet. And I've worked on a film on the costume side of things this year as well. I really see fashion as a form of art, and it should not only be about commerce, of course, it's a big, important part of it, but the essence of fashion has such a rich history of expressing culture, expressing vision. I want to keep combining craftsmanship and innovation. People see them as the opposites but craftsmanship has always been innovation. Jing Daily presents Jing Masterminds — a regular, exclusive interview series profiling today’s most iconic names in art, fashion, commerce and culture. Delving deep into their personal journeys, creative processes, business strategies and societal impacts, the series offers readers an intimate look at the lives and minds shaping our industries.

Iris van Herpen on bringing her couture to Asia

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Published February 05, 2025

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Iris van Herpen on bringing her couture to Asia