Dutch couturier Iris van Herpen’s first major North American retrospective, Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses, opens to the public at the Brooklyn Museum on Friday, May 16, 2026, presenting more than 140 haute couture pieces alongside contemporary art and scientific specimens. The exhibition runs through December 6, 2026 in the museum’s fifth-floor Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, following a private opening reception on May 14 and the Brooklyn Artists Ball, which honored van Herpen the same evening.
The Brooklyn presentation marks the North American debut of a retrospective originally mounted at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, where it opened in late 2023. The Iris van Herpen Brooklyn Museum 2026 staging adds new loans, scientific specimens from the American Museum of Natural History, and a custom soundscape by Dutch composer Salvador Breed.
Exhibition Overview
Organized into thematic sections covering water, marine biology, morphogenesis, outer space and human perception, the exhibition pairs van Herpen’s couture with works by artists Philip Beesley, Rogan Brown, Casey Curran, Kim Keever and photographer Nick Knight. Coral and fossil specimens from the American Museum of Natural History anchor the science-to-couture dialogue.
The retrospective lands as institutional fashion programming continues to expand. Comparable 2026 shows include the Queen Elizabeth II fashion exhibition at Buckingham Palace and the recently announced Dior Cruise 2027 at LACMA, signaling sustained museum investment in living-designer retrospectives. The Costume Institute endowment fund at The Met reflects the same institutional shift.
Living Materials and Couture Innovation
The Brooklyn show foregrounds van Herpen’s collaborations with scientists, architects and engineers. Featured pieces include the 2025 “Living Algae” look, which embeds 125 million bioluminescent Pyrocystis lunula algae into the garment; the organism glows in the dark and forms crescent shapes when activated.
Other named works on display include:
- Airu dress (2025): Worn to the Met Gala in 2025, the garment emits real bubbles via an embedded mechanism.
- Hydrozoa Dress (2020): Constructed from PETG plastic and glass organza.
- Morphogenesis Dress (2020): Built from laser-cut Plexiglas and mesh.
- Loie Dress (2025): Silk satin and resin.
- Skeleton Dress (2011): From the “Capriole” collection, an early example of 3D printing in haute couture.
Processes documented in the show include 3D printing, laser cutting, hand-finishing and experimental biomaterials. Van Herpen’s practice has paralleled the broader integration of AI and technology transforming fashion, though her output remains rooted in atelier-level craft. Her early-career trajectory tracks the kind of experimental talent the LVMH Prize 2026 finalists aim to surface.
Celebrity Wearers Represented in Exhibition
Garments worn by Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Grimes are included in the Brooklyn presentation. The Airu bubble dress, exhibited alongside event imagery, was worn on the red carpet at the 2026 Met Gala cycle of celebrity moments that also produced Rihanna’s Met Gala 2026 Maison Margiela couture and other extreme craft-driven looks documented in Met Gala 2026 celebrity fashion coverage.
Curators have positioned the celebrity-worn pieces as evidence of van Herpen’s crossover from gallery-adjacent couture to a mainstream cultural reference point.
Designer and Curator Statements
“Nature is the best artist that we have on this planet,” van Herpen said at the exhibition preview, according to Artnet News. Brooklyn Museum Director Anne Pasternak, the Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, said in an institutional statement that “Iris van Herpen exemplifies that spirit of experimentation and imagination.”
The Brooklyn iteration is organized by Matthew Yokobosky, Senior Curator of Fashion and Material Culture, with Curatorial Assistant Imani Williford. Original curation was led by Cloé Pitiot, Curator of Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Contemporary Design at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, with Louise Curtis. The exhibition is supported by the Simons Foundation‘s “Infinite Sums” initiative.
Visiting Information
The Brooklyn Museum is located at 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday. Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses runs May 16 through December 6, 2026. Timed tickets and member access are available through the Brooklyn Museum exhibition page.
The show follows a wave of high-fashion programming staged inside cultural institutions, including the upcoming Chanel Métiers d’Art 2027 in Rome, underscoring couture’s continued migration from the runway into the museum gallery.
