Design meets fashion, the haute couture of Paris. The designer duo Lonneke Gordijn and Ralph Nauta, in art Studio Drift has in fact compared to the Van Herpen fashion show the installation “In 20 steps”. The site-specific work has accompanied the “Syntopia” collection. In full style Studio Drift this installation concerns the human desire to fly and reproduces with technology a natural element like the wings of birds. The wings recreated in delicate glass represent the movement of the flight and the human’s desire to be able to fly. This glass technology floats in symbiosis with the models that paraded on July 2 at Le Trianon in Paris. Fragility is the sweetness of movement, reminiscent of force and impermanence of the human condition.

Lonneke Gordijn (Studio Drift): “Whether they are waves, flying birds or running men; all movements on earth, can be seen as the carrier of innovation, a true desire for all species to deeply connect”. Iris van Herpen: “As a former dancer, the transformation within movement has hypnotized me. For this collection I looked closely at the minutiae of bird flight and the intricate echoing forms within avian motion. The artists Studio Drift inspired me to look more closely at the draping of a garment through chronophotography. By slowing down time into split seconds I started breaking down the usual draping of  fabric, to then layer the miliseconds all slightly shifted, like the layering of a bird's feather”. In this collection van Herpen 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. The ‘Inside a second’ technique translates the artistry of Studio Drift and the chronophotographic lines of birdflight into thousands of two-toned transparent organza layers that are lasercut and heatbonded with mylar and cotton, that drape like time-lapse motion. The mini ‘Mimesis’ corset dresses are made from bird’s soundwave patterns that are lasercut of mylar, black cotton, red organza and transparent black acrylic sheets, layering the silk and acrylic like a feather’s architecture.