Future Couture

A new exhibition at the ArtScience Museum will showcase Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen's texturally stunning and technically complex creations

- Amanda Chai

Iris van Herpen's clothing is what you think of when watching films about the future.

So much so that the Dutch fashion designer even designed a dress inspired by Bene Gesserit - a group in American author Frank Herbert's sci-fi Dune universe that was worn by Canadian singer Grimes on the red carpet at the 2021 Met Gala.

Known for her fantastical couture creations blending art, science and technology, van Herpen's runway shows are often a fever dream of fabrics and other-worldly silhouettes.

Having founded her namesake label in 2007, the 40-year-old was also the first to send a 3D-printed collection down the runway - at Amsterdam Fashion Week in 2010 - in a moment now cemented in fashion history.

Textural, flowy and technically complex in material and construction, her pieces defy expectation or even description. One must see them in person to grasp the full scale of her creations.

Luckily for fashion fans in Singapore then that her immense body of work is now on show at the ArtScience Museum. From March 15 to Aug 10, Iris van Herpen: Sculpting The Senses presents more than 140 looks and accessories that trace her 18-year career.

The pieces are set in dialogue with a curation of natural history specimens and contemporary artworks. While based on an original exhibition designed by Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, the Singapore show also features new content. This includes artefacts on loan from the Lee Kong Chian National History Museum and works by local and regional artists, to give a South-east Asian context.

It marks the fashion pioneer's first solo showcase in the region. It will also be her first time in the Lion City.