Iris Van Herpen brings Living Systems to Couture
Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses brings the Dutch designer sewingmaterials research and collaborations with science at the Brooklyn Museum as the report will be on view from May 16 to December 6, 2026.
designboom attended a preview of the show, where Iris Van Herpen led a tour of the galleries, talking about her inspirations from the micro and macro worlds, along with the process of transforming material experiments into intricate, wearable sculptures.
Seen through his lens Radical softnessthe exhibition lands powerfully through its attention to touch and interdependence. Its strength comes from the patient work behind each piece, where craftsmanship, technology and natural systems are actively exchanged.
Henosis dress, ‘Roots of Rebirth’ collection, 2021, Iris Van Herpen Atelier. all images © designboom
from the microscopic world to the macroscopic
The Brooklyn Museum’s Iris Van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses is organized around the natural themes from which the Dutch designer draws her inspiration. It opens with water, which it describes as “the origin of life.” ‘It is the most vital material we have on our planet,‘ she notes.
From there, the galleries move from the microscopic world to the macroscopic, building a sequence that connects cellular life, marine structures, anatomy, consciousness, and the planetary scale. This move gives the show a leisurely pace of expansion, with each room expanding the body’s sense of where the design can begin.
This is where Iris Van Herpen feels particularly aligned with his subject Radical softness. Her work treats the body as part of a larger ecology, shaped by water, air, sound, dreams and mineral growth. ‘The essence of my work is to find that deeper connection with nature,‘ she continues ‘and we feel that we are part of something much bigger, like the interconnectedness of all walks of life.‘
The clothes translate this thought without heavy explanations. They pass around the figure, branch out along the torso, move away from the skin and suggest that clothing can be an act of sense of one’s place within a wider field.
Seijaku dress, from the ‘Seijaku’ collection, 2016, Iris Van Herpen Atelier
Sewing as a state of attention
Throughout the exhibition, Van Herpen’s silhouettes appear almost weightless, yet the processes behind them are intensely natural. During the tour, he talked about starting with the hardware before the silhouette.
‘When I start working on a collection, I often start working on the materials first,‘ she explains. ‘Before I even start thinking about silhouette or movement, I start with the material.This series matters as the garments feel developed from the behavior of the material, their forms emerging through bending, layering, cutting, stitching and digital translation.
The Brooklyn Museum’s presentation includes more than 140 haute couture creations displayed alongside contemporary art, design objects, scientific artifacts and natural history specimens, including coral, fossils and skeletons.
The exhibition also includes a reminder of Van Herpen’s atelier, opening up the tactile side of couture creation to a wider exhibition about science and the body in space. Here, material studies and samples of life-scale stage models, and visitors are invited to look through microscopes to get a close look at the designer’s otherworldly inspirations for themselves.
Skeleton dress, from the ‘Capriole’ collection, 2011, Iris Van Herpen Atelier
Handwork and time
Van Herpen’s process brings together older sewing techniques with digital tools, new materials and experimental construction. She spoke about the history of the craft with real affection, describing tailoring as an evolving language. For her, historical techniques take on new energy when they meet today’s tools and materials. Dialogue gives tailoring a sense of continuity, where skill moves forward through use.
This idea emerged most directly when he described crafting as a meditative state. ‘I create my best work when I craft myself,‘ she says. ‘It works really well when I’m in the process of creating because time slows down and you get a clearer mind.‘
In the galleries, this slowdown is visible on the surfaces. Some pieces have the precision of scientific imaging, while others seem shaped by breath or current. The softness here is disciplined, built through repetition and attention rather than laxity.
R-Evolution, 2014, Enrico Ferrarini (left). Bene Gesserit Gown, custom look for Grimes, 2021, Iris Van Herpen Atelier (right)
The dream as a design tool
The exhibition also traces Van Herpen’s interest in altered perception. She talked about meditation, lucid dreaming, hypnosis and a slight form of synesthesia, where music can be her role model. These experiences are put to work as practical design tools.
‘I use lucid dreaming as a tool to explore patterns that I translate into clothes later,‘ he tells us. In this sense, the dream is treated with studio rigor. It becomes a way of testing movement, surface and structure before they enter physical form.
This gives Iris Van Herpen’s work a special intimacy. Garments may rely on advanced construction, yet they often begin with inner experience: a sound seen as design, a dream remembered as movement, a material used until it begins to suggest its own direction. The soundscape of the exhibition by Salvadoran breed it deepens this field as it surrounds the clothes with a sensory layer that makes perception part of the display.
Hydrozoa dress, ‘Sensory Seas’ collection, 2020 (left). Arachne Bodice, ‘Meta Morphism’ collection, 2022 (right), Iris Van Herpen Atelier
From sketch to file to garment
Van Herpen also described the technical route behind the intricate pattern. The studio often starts with a physical, full-scale sketch on a basic dress. This sketch is then translated into computer files, especially when the embroidery is to be made into a technical pattern. From there, he can digitally adjust the surface and silhouette. The process moves back and forth between the hand and the screen, keeping the body present even as the garment passes through the software.
This back-and-forth is one of the exhibition’s most fascinating design lessons. Technology appears here as a way of extending touch, rather than replacing it. Digital tools help transfer a hand-drawn or naturally designed gesture to a complex surface. The final pieces bear traces of both methods, with the precision of calculation and the sensitivity of tailoring sharing the same edge.
