Hacking Infinity – Iris van Herpen Fall 2015 RTW. Model: Iekeliene Stange. Photo: Frederik Heyman. Image: Iris van Herpen.
SHOWstudio’s latest Design Download is a dress by Dutch wunderkind Iris van Herpen.
Iris van Herpen’s Hacking Infinity dress. Model: Bethany Sophara Robbins. Photo: Thomas Alexander. Image: SHOWstudio.Iris van Herpen dress, FW15 rtw. Model: Bethany Sophara Robbins. Photo: Thomas Alexander. Image: SHOWstudio.
The sheath dress is from Hacking Infinity, Iris van Herpen’s Fall 2015 ready-to-wear collection, which explored the idea of terraforming. (Read more at the designer’s site, or see Suzy Menkes on her 2015 studio visit.) The collection’s leather and 3D-printed shoes are by Noritaka Tatehana.
Iris van Herpen Fall 2015 RTW. Photo: Kim Weston Arnold. Image: Vogue Runway.Iris van Herpen Fall 2015 ready-to-wear. Image: firstVIEW.
Science, technology, and science fiction are strong influences for Van Herpen, and Vogue’s reviewer cited Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall as an intro to the terraforming concept. Several looks referenced the stillsuits from David Lynch’s Dune.
Iris van Herpen Fall 2015 RTW. Photos: Team Peter Stigter. Images: Iris van Herpen.Hacking Infinity – Iris van Herpen Fall 2015 RTW. Model: Iekeliene Stange. Photo: Frederik Heyman. Image: Iris van Herpen.Chani (Sean Young) in David Lynch’s Dune (1984) Costume design: Bob Ringwood. Image: Pinterest.
The plissé material, seen in the SHOWstudio piece, appeared both as one element in a mix, and for entire garments in black and bronze.
Iris van Herpen Fall 2015 RTW. Images: firstVIEW.
For Fall 2015, Van Herpen developed a fine, metallic fabric woven from silk and stainless steel. The translucent silver material was coaxed into “a sheen of nebula-like colors” with heat and hand-burnishing. Plisséed and pleated into circular forms, it evoked planetary bodies and infinity.
Detail backstage at Iris van Herpen’s Fall 2015 show. Photo: Morgan O’Donovan. Image: Facebook.Iris van Herpen Fall 2015 RTW. Photos: Team Peter Stigter. Images: Iris van Herpen.Iris van Herpen dress in T Magazine, April 2015. Photo: Juergen Teller. Image: Iris van Herpen.
The pattern download comes in A4 sheets, with a test line to check the scale.
Iris van Herpen dress pattern diagram. Image: SHOWstudio.
Notes: Prints on 100 A4 sheets. Plissé panels are hand-sewn to base dress.
Fabric recommendations: Plissé panels: plissé or printed fabric on a cotton base fabric. Stretch fabric is recommended for the skirt. Straps & facings: silk, non-stretch fusible interfacing. Lining: silk or cupro.
Notions: Back zipper.
The competition is still open. Will you be entering?
Tania Mallet wears Mary Quant (hat by James Wedge) on the cover of British Vogue, October 1, 1963. Photo: Brian Duffy. Image: eBay.
Nothing says Swinging London like Mary Quant. The pioneer of the Chelsea Look will receive a major retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019. (An earlier exhibit, Manchester Art Gallery’s Mary Quant: Fashion Icon, had to close early due to conservation issues.)
Mary Quant sketch, ca. 1967. Image: V&A.
The V&A is seeking vintage Quant for the show, including garments — or even photos of garments — made with Mary Quant patterns. See here for more details, or email the curators at maryquant@vam.ac.uk.Update: submissions are now closed.
Celia Hammond and Jean Shrimpton in Mary Quant, ca. 1964. Photo: John French. Image: V&A.Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Butterick licensed Mary Quant patterns from the mid-’60s to the early ’70s. (See my Mad Men-era post.)
Right: Mary Quant pantdress pattern 4779 in the Butterick retail catalogue, November 1969. Image: Etsy.
For knitters, there were also ultra-mod knitting patterns. Some of these vintage booklets are available as official reissues, like these ones from Mary Maxim. (More on Ravelry.)
1960s Patons Courtelle knitting patterns by Mary Quant. Images: Mary Maxim.
Mary Quant and her husband were profiled in Life magazine as early as 1960. (View story here.)
Mary Quant and Alexander Plunket Greene on Park Avenue, LIFE, December 5, 1960. Photo: Ken Heyman. Image: LIFE archive.
For his 1963 Life feature on the Chelsea Look, Norman Parkinson photographed Melanie Hampshire and Jill Kennington in these Mary Quant dresses:
Melanie Hampshire and Jill Kennington in Mary Quant’s Bank of England and Eton dresses, LIFE, October 18, 1963. Photo: Norman Parkinson. Image: Iconic Images.
Butterick released its first Mary Quant patterns in fall, 1964. Here’s Celia Hammond on the cover of the retail catalogue:
Butterick 3288 by Mary Quant. Butterick catalogue, October 1964. Photo: Terence Donovan. Model: Celia Hammond. Image: eBay.
The Butterick Home Catalog hailed Quant as the originator of the Chelsea Look.
Mary Quant in the Butterick Home Catalog, Fall 1964.
The earliest Mary Quant patterns pre-date the Young Designer line. This dress pattern even includes the rosette:
Butterick 3499 by Mary Quant (1965) Image: PatternVault shop.
British copies of this dress pattern say “featured in Queen magazine.” Jill Kennington wore this and other Butterick Young Designers in what was billed as “The Queen’s first ever make-it-yourself fashion.”
Butterick 3716 by Mary Quant (ca. 1965)“How to be a self made sensation.” Right, Jill Kennington in Butterick 3716 by Mary Quant. Queen magazine, August 11, 1965. Image: eBay.
Here Moyra Swan models a mod scooter dress. Suggested fabrics include linen, jersey, lightweight wool, and knits.
Butterick 4578 by Mary Quant (ca. 1967) Image: PatternVault shop.
This jumpsuit or playsuit came with a matching mini skirt — “the latest put-togethers”:
Butterick 5404 by Mary Quant (1969) Image: Etsy.
What to wear with a Mary Quant mini dress? Why, go-go boots, of course:
Butterick 5475 by Mary Quant (1969)
By 1970, a Quant jumpsuit was more fluid, with a pointed collar; this pattern also includes a maxi-length cardigan. The catalogue gives a better view of the inflatable chair:
Butterick 5857 by Mary Quant (1970) Image: Etsy.Mary Quant’s Butterick 5857 jumpsuit in the Fall 1970 catalogue. Image: tumblr.
Mary Quant in a more romantic mode means a sheer tunic worn with knickers. View B is a maxi dress.
Butterick 6256 by Mary Quant (ca. 1971)
After 1971 or so, Butterick Young Designer patterns had illustrations, not photos. This Mary Quant dress dates to circa early ’73.
Butterick 6916 by Mary Quant (ca. 1973) Image: Etsy.
Have you made anything from a Mary Quant pattern?
Butterick 4128 by Mary Quant, Butterick catalogue, October 1966. Model: Maren Greve. Image: Instagram.
