Iris Van Herpen creates haute couture dress from ocean plastic

Iris Van Herpen creates haute couture dress from ocean plastic

Fashion designer Iris van Herpen has unveiled a haute couture dress constructed from ocean plastic fabric produced by Parley for the Oceans, which was cut into trilateral pieces to form a tessellated, translucent garment.

The dress forms part of Van Herpen’s Roots of Rebirth Spring/Summer 2021 collection, which referenced “the intricacy of funghi” and the interconnectedness of mushrooms and especially mycelium, the tubular filaments that funghi use to grow.

Van Herpen used a variety of different materials when designing the collection, which consisted entirely of dresses.

The material is made from upcycled marine waste, sourced from the estimated eight million tons of plastic waste that end up in our oceans every year. Parley for the Oceans collects plastic debris from shores and oceans, which is shredded and reworked into yarn.