Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion

A rare chance to experience the designer’s striking, otherworldly dresses.

Fashion designer Iris van Herpen (Dutch, b. 1984) marries precision and meticulous handcraft, inventive technological solutions, and a striking, futuristic aesthetic. Organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and Groninger Museum, The Netherlands, Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion gathers seven years of van Herpen’s original haute couture for this exhibition: her first North American tour. Opening February 4 at Carnegie Museum of Art (CMOA), it presents 15 of her collections across a bewildering range of materials and techniques.

Pittsburgh is a city of creative makers and fabricators, a center of technology and robotics, and a supportive place for artists. A growing tech sector, and continued reckoning with its industrial past uniquely positions the city to respond to van Herpen’s designs, which are inspired by neuroscience and microbes, science fiction and the environment. She leans on new materials to do what traditional materials don’t, and employs new techniques to wring seemingly impossible forms out of traditional fabrics and common objects.

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.

Exhibition Images

Iris van Herpen, “Radiation Invasion, Dress,” September 2009, Faux leather, gold foil, cotton, and tulle, Groninger Museum, 2012.0201, Photo by Bart Oomes, No 6 Studios

Iris van Herpen, “Hybrid Holism,” Dress, July 2012, Metallic coated stripes, tulle, and cotton, Collection of the designer, Photo by Bart Oomes, No 6 Studios

Iris van Herpen, “Hacking Infinity,” Shoes, 2015, In collaboration with Noritaka Tatehana and 3D Systems Laser-cut cow leather, 3-D printed photopolymer, and stereolithography resin, Collection of the designer, Photograph ©NORITAKA TATEHANA

Iris van Herpen, “Capriole,” Ensemble, July 2011, In collaboration with Isaie Bloch and Materialise, 3-D-printed polyamide, Groninger Museum, 2012.0209, Photo by Bart Oomes, No 6 Studios

Iris van Herpen, “Biopiracy,” Dress, March 2014, 3-D-printed thermoplastic polyurethane 92A-1 with silicon coating, In collaboration with Julia Koerner and Materialise Collection of Phoenix Museum of Art, Gift of Arizona Costume Institute, Photo by Bart Oomes, No 6 Studios

Iris van Herpen, “Magnetic Motion,” Dress, September 2014, 3-D-printed transparent photopolymer and stereolithography resin, High Museum of Art, Purchase with funds from the Decorative Arts Acquisition Trust and through prior acquisitions, 2015.82 Photo by Bart Oomes, No 6 Studios

Exhibition Credits

Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion is co-organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and the Groninger Museum, the Netherlands. The exhibition was curated by Sarah Schleuning, High Museum of Art, and Mark Wilson and Sue-an van der Zijpp, Groninger Museum. Support for this exhibition has generously been provided by Creative Industries Fund NL.

Carnegie Museum of Art’s presentation of Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion is supported by the Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman Foundation at the request of Ellen Lehman and Charles Kennel; the Bessie F. Anathan Charitable Trust of The Pittsburgh Foundation at the request of Ellen Lehman; The Coby Foundation, Ltd.; PNC; The Women’s Committee of Carnegie Museum of Art; Vivian and Bill Benter; Doug and Betsy Branson; UPMC and UPMC Health Plan; and CooksonPierce Wealth Management.

The CMOA presentation of Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion is organized by Rachel Delphia, The Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman Curator of Decorative Arts and Design.