Paris Haute Couture Week - Fall 2025

The show opened with an emotionally charged performance created in collaboration with light artist Nick Verstand, performed by dancer Madoka Kariya.

The pioneering muse and dancer Loie Fuller, who van Herpen has long been inspired by as a trained dancer herself, embraced the unpredictability of fabric in motion.

The voluminous phantom silhouettes radiate organic patterns of light that are activated by the movements of the dancer in real time.

“The dancer becomes morphogenic and more-than-human, seeming to shimmer in and out of perception, often being swallowed entirely into this bioluminescent creature”

Light Arist: Nick Verstand, assisted by Wes Broerson 

Scent Experience: Francis Kurkdjian 

Dancer: Madoka Kariya 

Music Director: Salvador Breed 

Choreographer: Wubkje Kuindersma 

Styling: Nicola Formichetti 

Videography Dammes Mees Kieft, Jip Mus

Photo: Daniele Oberrauch, Tom Nicholson , Featured images via Getty Images© , REUTERS/Manon Cruz