IRIS van HERPEN haute couture fall 2013

Feel that? It’s goosebumps going up your arms because it’s time to feast your eyes upon couture. 5th time invited member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the Iris van Herpen couture FW 13-14 collection mixes mother nature with innovation (appropriately titled ‘Beyond Wilderness.’) She collaborated with artists, scientists and architects to help imagine and construct this line. The beauty of the wilderness and the miracle of innovation dance together in these 11 individual pieces. A mesmerizing start to couture.

Showing in a science museum, it was the most perfect setting for dresses that resemble organisms and exoskeletons. There’s a hint of Japanese inspiration in a bronze kimono dress with large arms, resembling an insect. A dark gray mini dress looks like a sculpture. With a visibly rough texture and claw shaped arms, it’s like a walking futuristic sand crab. An ivory skeletal-resembling dress features chicken heads surrounding the model’s face, while several other knee-length dresses also include modeled skeleton bones…getting a little on the macabre side. Perhaps showing there is life after death when it comes to couture.

Iris van Herpen Haute Couture FW 13-14 from Fashion Daily Mag on Vimeo.

Another wild piece looks like a walking microscopic organism. The movement is gorgeous and the embellishments could be silver garland at first glance. Another pieces’s detailing looks like spider legs. The models are wearing chunky black and white elevated boots, making them slink slowly across the carpet like hunting animals. van Herpen never misses a beat with this ambitious theme. She’s a wickedly talented wunderrkind. fdmLOVES IRIS VAN HERPEN Haute Couture FW 13-14 selects by Brigitte Segura, written by Allison Ripa.

Photos: Michael Zoeter and Morgan O’Donovan, courtesy  Iris van Herpen