By Editor Design.nl / 15-07-2010

During the opening's soiree of Amsterdam International Fashion Week (AIFW), Iris van Herpen gave the audience a sneak peek of her stunning new SS2011 collection. Her show was preceded by sister duo Spijkers & Spijkers who showed an elegant, resort-inspired summer collection.

Van Herpen took inspiration from the transformation of water to crystal, in particular the process from liquid chaos to fixed structure. What captures her fascination, she explains, are the hidden lines present while the material is fluid, which only then come to life when the water freezes and gains structure.

Opening with a video of a woman's body being splashed with water, the theatrical show featured ten striking outfits, each worn by a model who cast a dramatic shadow on the back wall as she paraded down the runway. We saw Van Herpen's intricate leatherwork, this time in very wearable mini-dresses contrasted with more art pieces. The idea of water manifest itself in splashes (literally) around an outfit to the lines, structure and fluidity of the leatherwork.

The full collection will be presented during London Design Week in September this year.

In other fashion news, Iris van Herpen is one of the designers invited to be part of the Fashion and Architecture project initiated by ARCAM (Architecture Centrum Amsterdam), where she was teamed up with Benthem Crouwel Architects and she is one of the three finalists in this year's Rado Young Designer Award as part of the Dutch Design Awards. Also Dutch/English shoe label United Nude has also launched the new limited edition sky-high shoes designed by Van Herpen which were first seen during her Synesthesia A/W 2010 collection.

Photography: Michel Zoeter 

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