Iris Van Herpen used a 3D printer to make this ‘Chocolate’ couture dress

Magnum ice cream has partnered with luxury Dutch fashion designer, Iris Van Herpen to design a 3D printed Haute Couture dress.

Unveiled at Elysée Montmartre, the ‘Magnum Vegan Dress’ (inspired by it’s new vegan ice cream) was revealed during Paris Fashion Week as supermodel Cindy Bruna took to the runway in Iris Van Herpen’s 15th Anniversary show.

The first of its kind for the brand, the dress was created using an intricate 3-dimensional design, incorporating sustainable materials that reference Magnum’s vegan ingredients. With the aid of 3-D printing technology, the Magnum Vegan Dress is also the first haute couture dress to be made from cocoa bean husks, which have been processed to create a fully organic biopolymer material.

The dress features intricate details including plantlike body embellishments which are copper-coated, draped and entwined with upcycled and pliseed organza, while other 3-D elements have been printed using innovative SLS technology (Selective Laser Sintering).

The creation of the gown supports both Magnum’s and the Maison of Iris van Herpen’s ambitions to work towards a fully sustainable production chain within the fashion industry and beyond.

Speaking about the collaboration, Iris said, “As a designer, I have always worked to push the boundaries of design and this collaboration has really allowed us to take this one step further by linking the ingredients of an iconic Magnum Vegan to create a Haute Couture design. The opportunity to work with the brand on such an innovation in sustainable fashion has been a very special experience.”

Cindy Bruna during the Iris Van Herpen 2022/2023 couture show

The Magnum Vegan Dress is part of Iris van Herpen’s fifteenth anniversary collection entitled “Meta Morphism”. The collection explores society’s embrace and acceptance of a new world of digitalism with the arrival of the Metaverse and how this is becoming an increasingly prevalent part of everyday life. Inspired by Ovid’s canonical poem “Metamorphoses”, the designer breaks down the lines between reality and digital realms in a futuristic, avant-garde collection.

At the Maison of Iris van Herpen, Haute Couture unites multi-disciplinary technologies with intricate artisanal craftsmanship… Whether shaping a dress through electromagnetic weaving or sculpting one from 3D hand-cast transparent leather, the Maison has challenged traditional notions of the handmade to create ethereal garments that are radically future-facing.