Iris van Herpen retrospective to open in Paris

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, France, will open a retrospective fashion exhibition exploring the work of avant-garde Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen in November.

The exhibition, entitled ‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ will pay tribute “to one of the most forward-thinking fashion designers,” explains the museum, honouring the use of technology in her designs with traditional couture craftsmanship and innovative techniques.

Running from November 29 to April 28, 2024, the exhibition will also question the place of the body in space, regarding “its relationship to clothing and its environment, and its future in a rapidly changing world”.

This will be demonstrated with more than 100 haute couture pieces by Iris van Herpen, alongside contemporary works of art and pieces from nature, such as skeletons and fossils, merging fashion with art and science.

The exhibition will be organised around nine themes linked to the designer's work, including water and the origins of life, highlighted with her latest collection, entitled ‘Carte Blanche,’ as well as skeletons with a focus on her Skelton dress and the work of Japanese artist Heishiro Ishino.

There is also a section dedicated to the sensory world with photographs by Tim Walker and a sculpture by Matthew Harrison, as well as the shadows of mythology around the theme of the medusa created by Phillip Beesley, and an installation dedicated to new nature with Living Shadows by Beesley brought to life as a derivative of physical dress and infiltrate its surroundings.

Musée des Arts Décoratifs to honour Iris van Herpen

There is also a presentation of Iris van Herpen’s works “as if projected in the immensity of the cosmos” with her dresses dancing across the sky, floating through space and time and photographs by artist Kim Keever.

The exhibition will close with three spaces that evoke Iris van Herpen’s studio, allowing visitors to immerse themselves into the atelier process through hundreds of material samples, a cabinet of curiosities presenting her accessories, such as shoes, masks, and hairstyling items, alongside elements from the natural sciences and videos. There will also be a room celebrating the living and moving body through videos of the designer’s catwalk shows.

The retrospective will also be accompanied by a soundtrack composed by artist Salvador Breed, which “challenges the senses and further immerses the visitor in this journey around the body and the themes close to the designer”.

‘Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses’ runs from November 29 to April 28, 2024, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.