Iris Van Herpen Designer #3

  

Iris Van Herpen 

Iris Van Herpen is a Dutch fashion designer  who  designs modern haute couture. She combines fine handwork with digital techniques. She is known for pushing fashion to the extreme and uses the contradiction between beauty and regenerations. Iris Van Herpen use a range of materials, techniques and technology to create her work and  Van Herpen has began exploring 3D Printing which has allowed her to create unique astonishing designs. She takes inspiration from a wide range of sources mainly focusing on natural forms and the structure and pattern that occurs in nature.

She has designed outfits for Beyoncé, Salvador Breed,Bjork, Grimes, Lady Gaga, Joey Yung and has collaborated with a variety of designers. She has recently designed the stage outfits for Madam Butterfly which consists of a fan design dresses  to allow movement and to relate back to the story.

Iris Van Herpen’s work is unique due to the range and scope of materials used to create her work. The material she uses has allowed her to explore making sculpture dresses that are highly elaborated and intricate. I feel her work fits into the subculture of punk due to her harsh shape and dimension that she creates though the materials used. This reminds me of the use of safety pins and studs that were used in the punk movement to decorate and show individuality. Leather is used a lot throughout her work as a base or incorporated into her designs this also relates back to the subculture of punk as leather is an essential to punk.

 Van Herpen also considers the placement of her structures to allow the body to move. She has a love for the body and the movement so her designs complement and use the body movements to enhance her designs. Her designs follow, complete, and change the body and the emotions that accompany it, when simultaneously the body adapts and adopts the new forms. The strong striking theatrical dress relates to punk as the punk movement was seen to be theatrical and breaking the rules. Which can be seen in Iris Van Herpen designs as it is breaking the mould and giving haute couture a new look.

  

  

 Iris Van Herpen is an edgy haute couture designer whose work is very inspiring as she takes inspiration and fusses techniques from the past and techniques and technologies of the future. 

MARY KATRANTZOU designer #2

Mary Katrantzou   

Mary Katrantzou is one of my favorite designers due to her use of bold prints and her tailoring of the garments.  Although it may not seemly fit into a subculture I feel her work strongly influences my style and the where I get inspiration for my work .  However I do feel her work could be classed into the Hipster subculture due to her prints being unique and her cliental are someone who is free spirited and confident. Mary Katrantzou started designing in 2008 and since has became a well known print designer. She takes inspiration from a range of everyday objects and abstract items such as perfume bottle, architecture, paintings.  Recently she has collaborated with Adidas to create a collection based on the classic trainer she has also collaborated with Christian Louboutin and Topshop.

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Her attention to details is shown through the way she approaches print she seamlessly  take everyday items and transforms them into abstract and contemporary fashion. Mary Katrantzou  is able to distort and zoom in on the objects and highlight areas and shapes of objects that others miss. This idea of taking something that is everyday and making it standout is what I feel hipster represents.  The bold colour used in Mary Katrantzou print is what also inspires  me as she is brave and doesn’t  care  if her colour clash.  the use of the colour clash adds details and interest to her designs.  The colour freedom is reflected in the hipster subculture as the idea of being free  and able to express yourself through the use of colour 

“Print can be as definitive as a cut or a drape and allows a woman to filter beauty found in design, in a subversive way. All my prints are constructed through digital technology. Digital print allows me to experiment with print in a way that fine art and other methods could not. It opens up a huge spectrum for possibility; I can create possibility out of impossibility, surrealism out of realism and both vice versa.” says Mary.

The tailoring Mary Katrantzou use  plays  with the illusion of print and the symmetry it can create to flatter the female silhouette giving it shape and detail. The tailoring also gives elegancy and drama to her collection whilst playing on the classic styling of female fashion. Mary Katrantzou carries her tailoring into her designs of shoes and accessories  which also carries on with the illusion and placing all the components together to create an overall exciting outfit.

Junya Watanabe designer #1

Junya Watanabe

Junya Watanabe is another designer that inspires me he is a Japanese fashion designer and in contrast to Mary Katrantzou his work is more about the layering and texture of fabric. Junya Watanabe started his fashion career  by working for Comme des Garçons from 1987 to 1994  he worked with Rel Kawakbo . He worked under his own label in  Comme des Garçons under “Junya Watanabe Comme Des Garcons’ and then in 1994 he launched his own label. Watanabe is renowned for designing innovative and distinctive clothing. He  is also known for being  experimental with his use of fabrics and how he use them to create a design . Watanbe fusion together the traditional fabrics such as cotton and   with the technological advances of synthetic fabric. This fusion of fabric allows Watanbe to create unique and abstract designs and through the use of  his fabrics  he  has become known by some as a ” techno couture" designer.

Watanable work fits into the subculture of punk as collections consist of irregular to touch surfaces  which  were created through the use of different fabrics and the fabric manipulation technique used, such as,  tucking ,pleats and ruching . His collections all contain a misshapen and dishevelled look that punk subculture is known for  with its antiestablishment ideas.  The shape of his work is really exciting and inspiring with the change of texture giving it   added dimension and it gives it a couture look.

 Junya Watanbele uses a lot of leather and tartan in his work which also relates back into the subculture of punk. The use of leather is something that I really like in his collections as he uses it in an inventive way. He also gives a modern twist on the use of tartan in garments and he gives a contemporary look to the punk style through his twist of futurism use throughout the collections.

He carries on the punk look not only through the garment that the models wear but through the style of the hair to resemble a Mohawk through the use of household item. The models were also styled in shoes similar to dr martins with heavy duty look which is essential to the punk style.

Jauya Watanble’s work is very inspiring and the fusion  of texture and fabrics  gives his design an edge and takes a lot of inspiration from the punk era.