When many people think of couture they think of the most traditional, time-intensive kind of fashion; of seamstresses and tailors in white coats bent over intricate swathes of material painstakingly sewing by hand the way they have since the days of Charles Frederick Worth and Christian Dior (and Marie Antoinette, for that matter).

Ms. van Herpen, however, a 35-year-old Dutch designer who founded her own company in 2007, has always thought of something different.

She has thought of the way the sewing needle — an early tool — might translate into the tools of tomorrow; might, for example, connect to the 3-D printer and the laser cutter. She has explored such themes as “biopiracy” and “magnetic motion;” has combined mylar and copper with tulle and organza. Her dresses often appear to have their own energy field and look as though they are terraforming the body. Read more

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