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30 Inspiration. IvH: There are many people I have met while traveling … friends, musicians, lovers I've been inspired by, as well as my older brother, Tim, who has been one of my earliest influencers. From a young age, he looked at life quite differently than most people. His critical and creative mind has influenced me thoroughly. He is also a great musician and was my example when I started playing the violin. The ballet effect. One of the most influential things in my life has been my classical ballet practice. Those years of dance taught me so much about my body, the transformation of movement, the evolution of shape, and how to manipulate both shape and movement. Now, I am able to mix these inspirations from the transformative body, movement, and shapes into materiality. On conceptualizing a collection. Each garment and every collection is a search for new understanding and discovery — on a conceptual level, on the level of materiality, on the level of techniques (in and outside of fashion), and on the level of beauty. Most collections start with new material developments, and techniques — both handwork and machine work — and are refined after that. When materials and techniques are decided, all draping H er womenswear is wearable art; her couture, a complex metamorphosis of conceptual clothing, masterfully manufactured into architectural, three-dimensional garments. After cutting her sartorial chops at the Artez Institute of the Arts in the Netherlands and working as an intern under the late Lee Alexander McQueen at his London atelier, Dutch designer Iris van Herpen launched her revolutionary label in 2007, boldly fusing technology and fashion, manipulating fabric in an otherworldly manner to create dynamic, ultramodern pieces sought by the world's most avant-garde. In her "Mine" music video, Beyoncé wore an Iris van Herpen metallic cape dress; at a personal appearance promoting her Fame fragrance, Lady Gaga stepped out in a sculptural, serpentine creation. Van Herpen's masterpiece designs are the subject of "Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion," opening this month at the Dallas Museum of Art, organized by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, with forty-five couture pieces from the last decade of van Herpen's career (through August). Linden Wilson discusses art, fashion, science, and ground-breaking design with the mystifying van Herpen, on the eve of her appearance in Dallas. THEORY C H AO S Iris van Herpen Refinery Smoke dress, July 2008, untreated woven metal gauze, cow leather, cotton PHOTOGRAPHY: BART OOMES, NO 6 STUDIOS