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Fashion fans, mark this one on your calendar: May 2026 won't just bring the return of the Met Gala, one of style's biggest nights, but also the debut of a high-profile new fashion exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. Opening its doors (or, rather, spreading its kinetic, three-dimensional wings) on Saturday, May 16 and running through Sunday, December 6 at the arts institution, "Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses" will celebrate one of the most forward-thinking designers in the industry, with 140 extraordinary haute-couture creations from the iconic Dutch designer on view alongside contemporary artworks, objets d’art and scientific artifacts.
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The latest fashion exhibit taking over a major NYC cultural institution (with recent style-focused shows at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, at the New-York Historical Society and at the Brooklyn Museum itself, which hosted a popular Dior retrospective back in 2021), the Van Herpen exhibit will serve as first major New York presentation of the designer's work, after premiering at Paris's Musée des Arts Décoratifs in November 2023 and moving onward to Brisbane, Singapore and Rotterdam.
The designs on view will include the avant-garde, highly sculptural garments that have made Van Herpen a runway pioneer—her ethereal, futuristic pieces celebrate both classic craftsmanship and nerdy technology (3D printing, laser cutting and the like). "A pioneer in the use of new technologies, Van Herpen transcends conventional clothing norms while embracing both traditional couture artisanship and innovative techniques. Ranging from the micro to the macro, the exhibition explores the body’s place in space, its relationship to clothing and its environment, and its future in a rapidly changing world," says museum organizers.
Along with the wearable garments, which have been sported by cultural luminaries from Beyoncé to Björk to Lady Gaga, the Sculpting the Senses activation will also feature rare archival materials and a soundscape by composer Salvador Breed for a full multisensory experience.
“Iris van Herpen represents a new kind of fashion intelligence—one that fuses couture, science, and technology to imagine what the world of clothing can become,” Matthew Yokobosky, senior curator of fashion and material culture at Brooklyn Museum, told Vogue. “This exhibition is not about looking back, but about encountering fashion as a living, evolving discipline.”
"Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses" will run from May 16-December 6 at the fifth-floor Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery at the Brooklyn Museum. As with other special events, the exhibit will require timed tickets; find more information here.