Magnetic, 3D

Paris Fashion Week is known for displaying a wide range of artistic visions - from the twisted to the mundane - realized in semi-functional form. A stand-out line in this year's series, however, added new dimensions to the idea of high-tech wearables by featuring 3D-printed garments.

Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen took home the 25th-annual Andam Award with her Spring 2015 collection, Magnetic Motion. To construct the seemingly complex but ready-to-wear clothing, van Herpen used 3D printing, injection molding, and laser cutting techniques, and even included magnetized metals in some components. As the Creator's Project notes, the designer's new line took strong cues from aspects of CERN's Large Hadron Collider, which, during a visit earlier this year, impressed the designer with its ability to produce a magnetic field 20,000 times greater than the Earth's; van Herpen explains on her website, 'I find beauty in the continual shaping of Chaos which clearly embodies the primordial power of nature's performance.'

Van Herpen further aimed to explore 'the interplay of magnetic forces,' to 'thoroughly [examine] the representation of dynamic forces of attraction and repulsion,' and thereby create a fusion of technology and nature. To do so, and to keep to her professed purpose of 'bridging fashion and other disciplines,' she collaborated with Canadian architect Philip Beesley and Dutch artist Jolan van der Wiel, both of whom explore similar themes in their work.

Framed to help boost up-and-coming design talent, the Andam prize is only open to labels bringing in less than €3 million a year. In addition to cash, this year's prize includes an estimated €250,000 a year's worth of mentoring from François-Henri Pinault, chief executive of Kering, work with Hudson's Bay Company and thecorner.com, and a collection of Swarovski crystals, the NYTimes reports. Past winners of the prestigious award have included Christophe Lemaire, Anthony Vaccarello, and Martin Margiela.

The Creator's Project Iris van Herpen