"Syntopia" Haute Couture show 2018

Iris van Herpen presented her latest Haute Couture collection, ‘Syntopia’, on July 2nd, 2018 at Le Trianon in Paris.

In this collection the designer explores the new worlds that arise within synthetic biology and the intertwining relationships between the organic and the inorganic. ‘Syntopia’ acknowledges the current scientific shift in which biology converges with technology and visualizes the fragility and power within.

For Syntopia, Van Herpen collaborates with the artists Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta of Studio Drift, whose biomimic designs translate natural processes by breathing life into delicate immersive sculptures through movement. For this show Studio Drift has created a spatial kinetic installation ‘in 18 steps’ constructed of 18 delicate glass wings that represent all the different steps of flying in an abstract way. The vivacious glass bird flows in symbiosis with the models while they move over the runway, their delicate interaction emphasizes the fragility of new worlds living and soaring together.