The review: Iris Van Herpen fall 2025 couture.
Iris Van Herpen, Paris haute couture week has missed you. Who else could pull off equal parts performance, fashion, and cross cultural extravaganza folding tech, science and art all into one runway show? The Dutch designer took a break from showing collections at fashion week, with her last runway show taking place two years ago in July 2023 and her last presentation staged in June 2024. Her fall 2025 collection was a kind of blow-out celebration of the things she does best: collaboration, performance art, and most of all: the kind of clothing to outfit the wardrobes of rare ethereal Earth angels. Iris Van Herpen’s fabrics move like nothing else in the world of haute couture.
Dubbed “Sympoiesis”, the Iris Van Herpen fall 2025 couture collection looked to the ocean for inspiration, crafting a dress that was literally inhabited by 125 million bioluminescent algae, which emitted light in response to
movement in collaboration with biodesigner Chris Bellamy. Shimmering and glowing from beyond the vast darkness of the runway, the algae creatures were cultivated just for the show, grown in sea-water baths over several months with nutrient gel. They were then encased into a moulded, protective membrane then reportedly attentively cared for before the show. It was shockingly beautiful but also enough to make one wonder what happens to the piece after the show, and how does one care for such a living garment?
The show opened with a stunning display of light and fashion reminiscent of Fantasia, orchestrated by light artist Nick Verstand, inspired by the fantastical theatrical dancing of American freeform dance pioneer Loie Fuller. “The dancer becomes morphogenic and more-than-human, seeming to shimmer in and out of perception, often being swallowed entirely into this bioluminescent creature,” wrote Van Herpen in the show notes. “The show opening is an emotionally charged performance on how we have drained the life out of our oceans. It is a call for protection.”
As models stepped out to dance in the shadows of the laser lights while wearing translucent poufs like ocean creatures from the greatest depths, master perfumer Francis Kurkdjian scented the venue with a custom underwater fragrance. Look closely and one might have seen too; some of the looks moved and fluttered in a mechanical manner. All courtesy of artist Casey Curran, who creates kinetic looks.
The ocean still remains one of the most unexplored places on Earth. Just imagine how much more inventive fashion–and art–might look in the future as we learn more.
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