All fashion designers work with form, pattern, and materials. But what happens when a designer pushes each of these elements of fashion to see how far they’ll go? Iris van Herpen, whose work is shown here, stretches the imagination, exploring science, nature, architecture, and movement. She invents garments that suggest a futuristic world.
Van Herpen was born in 1984 in the Netherlands. In 2007, she started her own fashion label. Less than 20 years later, her work is in museum collections around the world, and she has made custom designs for stars including Beyoncé, Danai Gurira, Scarlett Johansson, and Cate Blanchett.
But before Van Herpen’s work appears on the runway or red carpet, she begins by developing an idea with traditional sewing techniques and the latest technology.