There is also competition for attention at the Met Gala. Last night, $42 million was raised for the Costume Institute, ten million more than last year. At the 76th edition, the Dutch designer Iris van Herpen and the artist duo AA Murakami emerged as winners. In New York they unveiled the “Airo Dress”, worn by athlete Eileen Gu, who was one of the invited guests at the fashion ball. The freestyle skier made history by winning three medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. In February she repeated this performance at the Milan Cortina Games.
15,000 bubbles
The dress’s 15,000 iridescent glass bubbles were formed by hand and then attached to the bodice using UV light. The production took 2,550 hours of work over a period of 15 weeks. A team of specialists from the fields of couture, science and computer-aided design were involved.
Fresh bubbles streamed out from under the dress on the red carpet. They were produced by microprocessors hidden under the skirt. These put the gas under pressure and allow the bubbles to escape silently. The system is the work of AA Murakami, the duo consisting of Alexander Groves and Azusa Murakami. They work between London and Japan with ephemeral materials such as steam and light. For the first time, they applied their knowledge to a wearable garment.
Fashion is art
The dress fit the theme of the gala, which this year was “Fashion is Art”. For the Costume Institute, this theme is all about the body, as evidenced by the outfits on the red carpet last night. It’s about the body as it is, or as it could be, by emphasizing or distorting certain parts. The cloud-like effect of the bubbles blurred the clean lines of Gu’s athletic body, giving her a mystical aura. She almost seemed to disappear into the room.
“The bubbles reflect the anatomy of the human body, which consists of 99.9 percent empty space. They show the nature of the body as a dynamic field of matter and energy,” said Van Herpen himself.
Biocouture
The designer from Wamel is known as a pioneer who consistently combines fashion with innovative technologies and natural principles. For a previous viral creation, a glowing dress made from living algae, van Herpen worked with bioengineer Chris Bellamy and biophysicists from the University of Amsterdam (UvA). An example of the bubbles from the 2026 collection was already on display in her solo exhibition at Kunsthal Rotterdam. This is called “Seijaku”, a Japanese term that also describes the Airo dress: “calm in chaos” or inner peace.
The message for the fashion industry is that experimental technology is starting to find its place in haute couture. Furthermore, despite the prevailing luxury fatigue, the general public is open to this type of wearable art.
This article was created using digital tools translated.
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