Biodesign adds "a whole new range of possibilities" to fashion says Iris van Herpen

Making clothes using living organisms is fundamentally changing how Iris van Herpen thinks about materials, the Dutch fashion designer tells Dezeen in this interview.

Since starting her own studio 18 years ago, Van Herpen has carved out a reputation for sculptural designs that are innovative even for the inherently experimental world of couture fashion.

One of her most recent designs, a dress covered in glowing algae from her Sympoiesis collection, exemplifies Van Herpen's latest focus: biomaterials.

Working with a living organism changed how Van Herpen thinks about materials.

"I'm always trying to push my materiality forward, but I feel it's a symbiotic relationship, where the materials are also inspiring me to move forward," she told Dezeen. "That's exactly what happened with the living look."

"The whole process for us in the atelier shifted from constructing something towards caring for something, making sure it stays alive and is happy – you create a relationship with it."

Van Herpen's atelier a "laboratory for the profession"

To Van Herpen, this shift adds a new dimension to her work with materials, and a change from working with textiles such as cotton or wool, where the material itself is no longer growing.

"We feel there's a beautiful new philosophy: thinking about design and materiality in a way where you don't kill it and you try to maintain it, and bring it into a longer lifespan," she said.

"I see it as the start of something bigger that can evolve and influence how we work in the atelier," she added. "Biodesign is quite a new area with a whole new range of possibilities."

Van Herpen hopes working with biomaterials will change people's perspective on what defines "creation", and that her atelier's couture fashion could sow the seeds for material changes in the ready-to-wear industry as well.

"I see this space as a laboratory for the profession; we take the time to work on new materials," she said. "It's especially time that is much harder to find in ready-to-wear, because it goes so much quicker with the collections."

"The research and the collaborations that we're doing are seeds for everything that can be done in ready-to-wear, and a lot of the companies that we work with are also working with ready-to-wear labels."

"We still don't have enough sustainable resources"

While the designer feels positive about the amount of effort that has been put into the development and use of sustainable materials, she says it's also not enough, arguing that the sheer volume of clothes produced is often the problem.

"More needs to happen," Van Herpen said. "Even though, as a very big brand, if you work with more sustainable materials, ultimately it's also about the amount that you produce."

"If you only use sustainable materials – which is wonderful – but produce in massive amounts, we still don't have enough sustainable resources," she added.

"It's a coin with two sides, where on the one hand we need to focus on the sustainable materials, and on the other hand, especially within the ready-to-wear brands, we should show fewer collections and focus more on quality rather than quantity."

Past designs by Van Herpen include a dress made from thousands of hand-blown glass bubbles, a couture dress made from ocean plastic and 3D-printed shoes that she created with architect and designer Rem D Koolhaas.

Her work with materials has evolved over the years, with Van Herpen now weaving multiple different technologies and materials into each collection.

"3D-printing is definitely still part of my work, but it's so integrated with all of the other techniques," she said.

"Often when you look at a design, it is a mix from different stages of the process of the handwork and some 3D-printing, some laser cutting and some other techniques are all merged."

Her work on biomaterials has also recently become entwined with her use of 3D-printing.

"I've worked on biodegradable 3D-prints made from waste materials, like cocoa shell beans," she said.

"There are also a lot of biodegradable resins that are commercially available, so we've been printing with those as well, even flexible ones, which is amazing."

"There's been a big progress in the printers in which you can put in a fabric, so nowadays you can 3D-print on top of any fabric. You can put in a tulle, a cotton or a silk, or even a leather – whatever you want."

A recent look was 3D-printed directly on tulle, which Van Herpen says "brings comfort and a couture experience" to the design but could also make the technique more appealing for other brands.

"It creates sort of a lining so it becomes very comfortable to wear, which also makes it more approachable for the ready-to-wear designers," she added.

Next week sees the opening of an exhibition of Van Herpen's work, Sculpting the Senses, at museum Kunsthal Rotterdam, which will show "a hundred iconic creations" by the designer.

"I'm really excited about it because it's my home country, and I haven't done a lot of work here – it's always Paris or somewhere – so it feels special to do something close to where I live and where I work," she said.

The photography is courtesy of Iris van Herpen.

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