Iris van Herpen ~ ‘Sonic Starquakes’ Process film

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 temp