Inside the Iris van Herpen atelier, months of experimentation, material exploration, and meticulous craftsmanship shaped Sonic Starquakes, a collection exploring the invisible forces that connect the body with the unseen energies that shape the cosmos.
Presented at Paris Haute Couture Week, 2026, the collection draws inspiration from sonic vibrating stars, the structures of exploding supernovae, the spiraling geometries of galaxies, and the turbulence of plasma. When astrophysicists first detected starquakes, they revealed that stars are not silent bodies suspended in space, but oscillating instruments, shaped by waves moving through their plasma depths. The universe itself is in constant vibration.
Translating these invisible forces into couture, the atelier developed new materials and techniques that transform scientific phenomena into vibrating silhouettes.
Among the collection’s most cutting-edge creations is the Fractal Universe gown that was developed and casted inside a 3D printed mold. In collaboration with Lichtenberg specialist Dale Sulak, the casted forms were charged inside a particle accelerator and cryogenically preserved to generate an intense electric field containing billions of trapped electrons within its structure. The rapid energy release (temporary columns of plasma) fractured thin hollow micro-channels along its path inside the dress in three dimensions at a substantial fraction of the speed of light. These brilliant channels of light we see are temporary columns of plasma – the same matter found in suns, stars, nebulae, solar winds, and much of the visible universe. Within the Sonic Starquake collection, plasma enters the realm of couture for the first time. By infusing the collection with plasma, the fourth state of matter, the body becomes a conduit through which universal forces can be perceived. The Helix Nebula look is composed of two sculpturally floating lunar forms, hand-blown in glass by plasma specialist Mundy Hepburn and infused with plasma that interacts to human touch. When worn, the body becomes a conductor of the plasma’s electrical field, altering and interacting with it. As a result, the look momentarily incorporates the body into its electromagnetic system. Its deep nebula-red glow arises from electrons shifting between energy levels and releasing photons at precise wavelengths.
Across the collection, silhouettes resist fixation. Textiles are laser-cut into undulating motifs that hover across the skin, while more than 30,000 individually hand-blown iridescent glass spheres dissolve the body’s contours into suspended particles of light. Flowy chiffons and organzas are hand-pleated into sweeping half-wheels that are elevated within moon-curved carbon-fibre bonings, allowing the garments to drift like invisible energy fields. Fine changeant embroideries trace electromagnetic and eidophonic patterns across the body, placing the wearer within a field of vibration.
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Film by Ryan McDaniels
Tracks by
Contemplation – Hélène Vogelsinger
Zugot – Ran Bagno
Original score by MOKI
