Gwendoline Christie steals the show at Iris van Herpen

Dutch couturier Iris van Herpen’s shows often border on art installations – remember the vacuum packed models of AW14? This season, the designer’s Paris Fashion Week show starred Game of Thrones and soon to be Star Wars actress Gwendoline Christie who lay – apparently asleep – on a concrete round table set in the middle of the show venue.

Christie wore a dress which was being woven upon her, mixing several different techniques including laser cutting, hand weaving and 3D printing. She was flanked by three sculptures or “beings” made Jólan van der Wiel who (somehow) grew them using magnets. 

“(Her) work reveals the secret structures of our existence giving us a multidimensional experience of what it is to be alive,” said Christie, commenting on the designer’s contribution to fashion, “It is an investigation into the past, present and future in all its primal and mythological forms.”

While Christie’s appearance in the show received a lot of attention on social media, it is by no means the actress’s first foray into the fashion; she modelled in Vivienne Westwood Gold Label’s show last season, following it up with a campaign for the brand shot by Juergen Teller.

As for the collection itself, it was (as usual) futuristic verging on science fictional. Starring SS16 breakout star Ruth Bell and Dazed cover girl Molly Bair, the show saw models teetering on “airborne” shoes which gave the illusion of the models floating above the ground.

While the designer is famously innovative on a large scale (as Christie’s dress testifies to), she is equally boundary-pushing when it comes to the details. Fabrics at today’s show included a three-dimensional mesh and a leather lace embellished with Swarovski crystals.