This Dress Is Made of the Same Material as the Stars

Named Helix Nebula, it is the first dress in history to be made from the same state of matter found in the Moon and the stars. Iris Van Herpen, the Dutch designer renowned for her futuristic creations and relentless exploration of new technologies and materials, presented during her Fall 2026 Haute Couture show a garment that incorporates plasma—the primary physical component of stars and the fourth state of matter.

Without a fixed shape or volume, plasma is a luminous cloud of charged particles enclosed within two sculptural, floating lunar forms made of hand-blown glass. These elements come to life in response to human touch. When the dress is worn, the body becomes a conductor of the plasma's electric field, altering its energy and interacting with it.

«For years I have been fascinated by the idea of creating a dress woven entirely from energy. We have shaped couture through solids, liquids, living matter and even gases. This is the first time we have worked with the fourth state of matter—plasma. The glass and tulle still keep it anchored to the earth, but we are one step closer to a couture that exists only as atmosphere.»

Iris Van Herpen

Electricity also plays a leading role in another couture look from the collection. The dress features a branching yellow light pattern inspired by a Lichtenberg figure—the tree-like marks created when a high-voltage electrical discharge passes through or perforates an insulating material, or when lightning strikes human skin. The pattern was generated using a particle accelerator that produced an enormous electrical charge inside the garment's acrylic structure.

Originally, the designer intended for the model to trigger the electrical discharge while walking the runway, allowing the lightning to complete the creation of the dress live. Instead, during the nights leading up to the show, the garment unexpectedly began completing its own "work" autonomously. A one-of-a-kind creative process that perfectly embodies the essence of couture: intricate, precious and impossible to replicate.