iris van herpen designs dresses with parley's ocean-sourced upcycled plastic

for the 2021 edition of paris couture week, dutch designer iris van herpen has collaborated with parley for the oceans to create five dresses entirely made out of upcycled marine debris. fragile and ethereal, the collection dubbed earthrise explores the splendor of planet earth and narrates the circular processes that usher change in our sentient world by weaving a symbiotic thread between artisanal tailoring and organic craftsmanship, derived from the perception of our world as one living and breathing organism. 

images by siermond & nicholas fols

‘I want to give new meaning to couture — give it relevance in the age of technology,’ said iris van herpen. ‘I see couture as the laboratory of the bigger picture of fashion and my aim is to show that couture is not about yesterday. I hope to make haute couture the engine of progress in our rapidly changing digital age.’

the earthrise collection by iris van herpen saw different collaborations including that of james merry for the face jewellery and with rogan brown who was in charge of the hand-cut layers that have a natural science look to it. a kinetic dress inspired by spheres was created with casey curran. for example, the blue marble gown which features circles that form a gradient pattern features merry’s jewels; while the off-white magnetosphere dress was made together with brown and showcases glass-like nails by eichi matsunaga.

overall, the earthrise collection by iris van herpen aims to raise awareness of the fragility of our oceans.

project info:

name: earthrise collection

designer: iris van herpen

created in collaboration with: parley for the oceans

artists: james merry, rogan brown, eichi matsunaga