Early on Monday evening, Iris van Herpen could already feel the vibration in the room. The designer was standing in the glass lobby of the Brooklyn Museum, light streaming in, as her exhibition “Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses” welcomed its first visitors during the Brooklyn Artists Ball.
“It’s been such a joy, because I’ve been working on the exhibition for such a long time,” said the designer of getting to experience the final installation. “It was just finished yesterday, and that was when all the light was done, and the sound was on — and then it just suddenly feels it’s all one whole,” she added. “It’s really a dream come true.”
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While the exhibition opens to the public later this week, the museum offered an early preview during its annual gala fundraiser, which honored the Dutch fashion designer.
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Van Herpen has been tweaking her retrospective exhibition as it travels to various museums. For New York, she focused on enlarging the “atelier” section, which includes a new installation specifically for the museum.
“There are some dynamic elements that really make the exhibition come alive, specifically in New York. I haven’t done that before,” added van Herpen, who will return to the museum later this week to create a new look live onsite. “ I’m changing it all the time, because I want it to evolve with me as I’m changing, and I want the exhibition to be exactly where I am at this moment.”
And on Monday night, that moment was reflected in her outfit choice.
“This look is about vibration and movement,” said the designer, describing her look for the evening. “And it just felt right. I chose it on intuition.”
Gala guests included costume designer Paul Tazewell, Chloë Sevigny, Karen Gillan, Hari Nef, Peggy Gou, Mickalene Thomas, Kaws, Dustin Yellin, Wes Gordon and Paul Arnhold, and LaQuan Smith. During cocktail hour, the crowd was invited to preview the expansive exhibition on the fifth floor before heading down to the museum’s Beaux-Arts Court for dinner.
Coco Rocha arrived at the gala straight from teaching her Coco Rocha Model Camp masterclass. “ I left there and they’re all like, ‘You look like an alien — and a fabulous one at that,’” said Rocha, dressed in an Iris van Herpen dress composed of molded black PVC strips, from the fall 2012 “Hybrid Holism” collection.
“ When we talk about ‘what’s the future of fashion?,’ we always say ‘Iris van Herpen — that’s what it should look like,’” said Rocha of the designer. “ It’s surrealism. It’s beautiful.”
Rocha added that one of her favorite working memories is the designer’s fall 2024 couture show, where she and several other models were installed within wall canvases alongside large-scale artworks. “ We were up there for an hour, and we were like moving art — and it was so clever, because it truly is art,” she added. “I want to do more of that.”
The Brooklyn Museum exhibition also places van Herpen’s work in dialogue with visual fine artists, and features a soundscape created by her longtime partner, Salvador Breed.
“ I’m always interested in the experience to be three-dimensional, and to be something where — immersive’s an overused word — you feel an ambiance and a mood when you walk into the space,” said curator Matthew Yokobosky, who worked alongside the designer for a year bringing the exhibition to life at the museum.
Dinner kicked off with a performance by two New York City Ballet dancers, wearing costumes that van Herpen designed for last fall’s NYCB Fall Fashion Gala. Later, Jordan Roth introduced van Herpen, the evening’s honoree, to the stage.
“Whoever decided irises on the table — yes. Very good,” he said, remarking on the table decor.
“ I‘ve had the rare privilege of stepping inside her creations,” said Roth. “You don’t just wear them. You transcend them. They ask something of your body. They change how you move, how you hold yourself, how you exist in space,” he continued. “It feels less like getting dressed, and more like entering a new universe.”