The Brooklyn Museum will present the North American debut of "Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses" on May 16, 2026, timed with the annual Brooklyn Artists Ball where Van Herpen will be honored. The exhibition features over 140 haute couture creations alongside contemporary art, design pieces, and scientific artifacts, exploring the designer's fusion of craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology, sustainability, and natural phenomena. Previously shown at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, QAGOMA, ArtScience Museum Singapore, and Kunsthal Rotterdam, the show is curated by Cloé Pitiot and Louise Curtis, with the Brooklyn Museum presentation organized by Matthew Yokobosky and Imani Williford.
This exhibition matters because it marks Van Herpen's first major New York exhibition and furthers the Brooklyn Museum's legacy of landmark fashion exhibitions and commitment to championing trailblazing women in art and design. By placing avant-garde fashion in dialogue with contemporary art, design, and scientific artifacts—including works by artists like Nick Knight and Wim Delvoye alongside coral fossils and skeletons—the show underscores the growing institutional recognition of fashion as a legitimate art form and highlights the interdisciplinary convergence of art, science, and technology in contemporary creative practice.