Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion

Exhibition Website

Oct 13 2017 - Jan 7 2018

Experience the bold vision of one of today's most original fashion designers with 45 exquisite outfits from 15 collections in Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion. Van Herpen (Dutch, born 1984) works at the nexus of fashion, design, technology, and science, across a bewildering range of materials and techniques.  With a dynamic and path-breaking body of work, she is widely heralded as a pioneering new voice in fashion. She is known for her willingness to experiment—exploring new fabrics created manipulating iron filings in resin, incorporating unexpected materials ranging from umbrella tines to magnets, and pushing the boundaries of technologies such as 3-D printing. 

This exhibition documents the evolution of Iris van Herpen’s couture through a selection of her collections from 2008 through 2015 and illustrates the many ways she continues to seek inspiration beyond the world of traditional handwork and craftsmanship. Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion gathers seven years of van Herpen’s original haute couture for this, her first North American tour .

Iris van Herpen was accepted into the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, the organization that governs the Paris fashion scene, in 2011, a recognition of her exacting craft and visionary approach. Her work stunned at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s blockbuster group exhibition Manus x Machina. Celebrities like Beyonce, Bjork, Lady Gaga, and Scarlett Johansson have sought her luxe, otherworldly dresses. Transforming Fashion is a rare chance to experience the broad sweep of her extraordinary designs together in one place.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.


Whether or not you go, IRIS VAN HERPEN Transforming Fashion showcases a pioneering voice in contemporary fashion. At the nexus of art, design, science, and technology, van Herpen's stunning sculptural work expresses a bold vision that seamlessly melds traditional handcraft with cutting -edge technology, including 3-D printing. This exhibition catalogue documents the evolution of van Herpen's couture through extensive photography and an illuminating interview, providing a rare view into the world and work of one of today's most original fashion designers.

Click IRIS VAN HERPEN Transforming Fashion to place this book in your Amazon shopping cart. 

  • Costume
  • European
  • Contemporary
  • Design
  • Iris van Herpen

Exhibition Venues & Dates