IRIS VAN HERPEN
- Nov 8, 2025
- 2 min read
The Art of Body, Material, and Space
Collection: Sympoiesis
Designer: Iris van Herpen
Photography: Molly SJ Lowe
Courtesy of Iris van Herpen
From an early age, Iris van Herpen has looked at the world through movement and form. She trained at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem and completed an internship at Alexander McQueen in London. Soon after, she founded her atelier in Amsterdam, where creation begins with a question and unfolds through making.
Every material in her work grows out of dialogue. Biologists, physicists, programmers, couturiers, and artists who shape sound, light, and scent meet in the process. The aim is a form that moves and resonates in space. Her collections often carry names that point to processes and interdependence. Sympoiesis, presented in Paris on July 7, 2025, embodies that approach.
Iris van Herpen, “Sympoiesis”, Paris Haute Couture Week 2025. Izvor: YouTube
The show opened with a dancer performing inside a light work by Nick Verstand that operated in real time. A luminous body emerged in the center.
The opening look contained 125 million bioluminescent algal cells (Pyrocystis lunula). The glow responded to movement, alive on the body. The algae were cultured with scientific support, then integrated into a living structure for the runway.
Throughout the show, dresses drew on fermented fibers developed with Spiber's Brewed Protein, silk shaped and coated with resin, and textiles that echo the architecture of the deep. Heelless shoes, designed in collaboration with Rombaut, encircled the feet with metallic rings that suggested sonar. The space carried a bespoke scent created by Francis Kurkdjian.
Collection: Sympoiesis
Designer: Iris van Herpen
Photography: Molly SJ Lowe
Courtesy of Iris van Herpen
In Paris, a year earlier, Hybrid unfolded in a gallery setting. Five couture pieces were installed for close, unmediated viewing, blurring the runway and the exhibition.
Retrospectives expand the field of view. Following Paris, Brisbane, and Singapore, the exhibition Sculpting the Senses has reached Kunsthal Rotterdam, bringing together around 140 works and a soundscape by Salvador Breed.
Her work is held by institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and her work has been prominently exhibited at the V&A in London. The exhibition Sculpting the Senses was anchored by MAD Paris. Collaborations reach across disciplines and years, including projects with Björk, Benjamin Millepied, and Neri Oxman, alongside research dialogues with MIT and CERN.
In Iris van Herpen's universe, material, movement, light, and sound each find their place. Every form arrives as an experience shaped by motion and lasts for as long as the body carries it.
Iris van Herpen – “Sympoiesis” (process film) – Source: YouTube
