[ MGX ] Crystallization

Fashion designer Iris van Herpen collaborated with New York company .MGX by Materialise and artist Daniel Widrig to create 3D printed clothes.

Created as part of her Spring/Summer 2010 collection called Crystallization, the designs were inspired by the transformation of liquid into crystals.

The piece was unveiled as a preview at Amsterdam International Fashion Week last month and is the first of three pieces to be shown at London Fashion Week in September.

Here’s some more information from van Herpen:

Iris van Herpen will be showing a 10-piece preview of her SS11 collection ‘Crystallization’ at the Opening Soiree of the Amsterdam International Fashion Week. This preview is an unique opportunity to get a glimpse of her entire collection, which will be showed in September at the London Fashion Week.

In the transformation of water in to crystal, Iris van Herpen finds the liquid chaos, which evolves to a solid, architectural structure, which is the inspiration for this ‘Crystallization’ Collection.

Chaos as Structure

Fascinated by the secrets and invisibility of water, in particular the antithesis of structure and chaos, the 26-year-old designer takes this as the foundation of her collection. Imagine the transformation of water to crystal, soft and fluid as water, opposed to hard, mathematical structures as ice crystals. This process is not only translated visually, but also in the design process. Seemingly chaos to structured precision.

‘I am fascinated by the fact that there are secret lines hidden in totally transparent and liquid material. Life appears at the moment of freezing, when crystals form. Only then becomes the underlying symmetry and structure visible.’

Inspiration for the new collection was also found in an assignment in collaboration with Benthem Crouwel Architects for ARCAM, the Architectual Centre of Amsterdam. Inspired by the new ‘Stedelijk Museum’, “The Bathtub”, which Benthun Crouwel Architects designed, Iris van Herpen sculptured a dress that falls around you, like flowing water.

Innovative 3D printing

Iris van Herpen brings more opposites into her SS11 collection; handcrafted pieces, combined with new, innovative techniques. The designer collaborated with the leading New York based .MGX by Materialise and well-known architect Daniel Widrig in a prestige project of 3D printing.

from  dezeen