Splayed on a slight pedestal in the midpoint of Iris van Herpen’s setting for her Spring 2016 collection was none other than Game of Thrones actress Gwendolyn Christie collapsed and frozen for the entire show, seemingly entangled in the cobweb of her fishnet dress. Cleverly titled “Quaquaversal,” meaning to go off in all directions, the assortment looked to expose the strong union between architecture and nature—a symbiosis van Herpen has been exploring since the inception of her brand.

“The beautiful potential of plants and other organisms to form living architecture inspired me to make a collection that is tangled like a maze around the body,” said van Herpen. “Inspiration
came from the way plants and their roots grow, and how roots have been used to grow living bridges in the forests of India.” The influence was undeniable in transparent dresses whose crystal adornment seemed suspended supernaturally and in the hand weaving of cropped halter tops that gave a handcrafted spin to the trend. The final dresses were truly the pièces de résistance—exquisite in approach and simultaneously teetering on the line of fragility and power. Fishnet numbers laser-cut to perfection channeled the plating of metal and a concurrent airiness.

“Van Herpen’s work reveals the secret structures of our existence, giving us a multidimensional experience of what it is to be alive,” said Christie. As fashion moves into the digital age
and mediums like virtual reality become even more prominent experiences for the public, we can’t help but think that van Herpen will be leading the charge on the sartorial front, guiding us all to question the multifaceted and complicated nature we have with our clothing and with the world that both our wardrobes and bodies inhabit.

—Faith Cummings