Beyoncé’s “Renaissance World Tour” was a memorable parade on June 17 in Amsterdam, where the artist took to the stage in a spectacular dress from the famous Dutch designer Iris Van Herpen, in particular with the ethereal and futuristic “Heliosphere”.
Esdir alumna Silvia Casaus (Logroño 2001) took part in the event, where she was also confronted with the implementation of her teaching practice in Van Herpen’s haute couture atelier – an opportunity that was classified as “exciting”. It was five months (March to July) of intense work but also outstanding learning. “The whole time I was learning to work in a team, I didn’t like something, but once I was there, I really appreciated it,” he admits.
Beyoncé’s dress consists of more than 900 pieces of silicone wrapped around her body and furry head. Sylvia’s work focused on processing and attaching these silicone parts, much like handcrafting small Swarovski crystals. The end result was a proposal that was as avant-garde as it was artisanal, requiring a lot of hands and 600 hours of work. It went viral within hours.
Silvia Casaus creating the Heliosphere dress.
Although Silvia Casaus didn’t come to the concert to enjoy Beyoncé’s Heliosphere – she explains that the artist’s team “were a little happy and we were the only ones who had the opportunity to get together” – she enjoyed it from across the stage, sharing videos and images of the star . “The next day, let’s celebrate with a bottle of champagne,” he notes.
During her five-month internship with Van Herpen’s haute couture series, they also celebrated her with the opportunity to attend a Dutch fashion show at the latest Paris Fashion Week. The boy from behind the scenes returns to the depths of the moment. “That day I slept for 40 minutes, and when I came to the end of the day, on the way home I slept in the garden, in the subway, in the cafeteria… Last month, before the end of the day, we worked on average 15 hours a day.” However, all the effort was worth it to learn from someone like Iris Van Herpen, without limiting time to experiment with materials, technologies and volumes. Their proposals between fashion and art are as recognizable as they are endorsed.
How’s Iris? “It was always in the workshop, we had the same coffee machine as ours, but we didn’t use it much. No, it’s because it’s Dutch, but he was a little rough.”
Hacia el scénico sauce
Sylvia Casaus returned from Amsterdam to the veranda. He is currently preparing for the Final Course of Grado (TFG), which he will present next time and will be given to complete his studies at the Escuela Superior de Diseño de La Rioja. On your resume you will find some recognitions such as finalist of the Art of Fashion Award, winner of the Young Designers of Santa Lucia de Tirajana competition or the Public Prize of the Museum of Young Art of La Rioja 2019.
As this young designer explains: “Being higher up at Iris made me realize a lot of things, especially because the fashion world makes you have a lot of fun being there. The industrial part doesn’t suit me and I would like to wear summer clothes because it gives me more freedom and I feel more comfortable.” Therefore, he plans to move to Madrid, where he has great friends in the world of theater and cinema. For her, her point of reference in this universe is the disappeared Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka, who was responsible for the design of Coppola’s Dracula. Sylvia is currently recreating the world of vampires in TFG.