A Photographic Journey Into Iris Van Herpen at the Brooklyn Museum

At the Brooklyn Museum, "Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses" showcases the innovative nature of the Dutch designer through over 140 haute couture garments. Her incorporation of technology and inspiration from nature abounds throughout the exhibition which was organized by the Musée des Décoratifs in Paris.

Born on June 5th, the Gemini designer showcases the changeability of the twins through her perpetual evolution. She is a visionary pushing the envelope and hardly comfortable staying still while undoubtedly having codes that are instantly recognizable. Innovation is incorporated through technological details and collabs with artists in other mediums including architects, like Philip Beesley. Most significantly, she can be included in the niche group of designers who learned the rules only to break them. “Many of the things I’ve learned about couture I have let go; I need that new space for intuition,” she says.

Outside of standalone garments, there are a couple of particular sections of this exhibition that prove particularly exciting. One of these is a mock atelier, complete with walls of mood boards or “material experiments” which reveal her and her team’s compiling of hundreds of bits and bobs (more specifically, fabrics, scraps and objects). Of course, these will inform an upcoming collection.

A portion of the exhibit involves a grouping of dresses that speak to her experiences with synesthesia. These designs seek to evoke this sensation, as well as the feelings discovered through lucid dreaming and hypnosis. On discovering her gift of synesthesia, she shares, “when I listen to music, I can see patterns appear before my eyes. These synesthetic experiences guide my designs, where I visualize the invisible.”

But nature in various facets is a throughline in this remarkable and multi-room exhibit. And one quote from the designer sums it up well, as she shares that her “ultimate collaboration is with nature. The body is an ecosystem—one where couture can become alive, responsive, and deeply connected with the more-than-human.”

"Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses" is on view at the Brooklyn Museum through December 6.