Dutch Fashion Designer Iris van Herpen Moves Into Art

The Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen, who counts Beyoncé, Björk and Tilda Swinton among her regular clients, is known for dazzling haute couture pieces that resemble sculpture.

Now she’s aiming to show that the equation also works the other way around: She’s not a fashion designer but an artist who happens to make pieces for the body.

Van Herpen is planning an art exhibition, called “Hybrid,” that took a year to plan but will run for just 45 minutes on June 24, as part of Paris Haute Couture Week.

Why just 45 minutes? That’s shorter than a yoga class, some Netflix episodes or a nap.

Compared to her usual presentation at Fashion Week, the designer said, it’s actually a long time.

“Normally we do a runway show that takes only 15 minutes because the audience goes from one show to another. So this is very long for this setup,” she said. “This show really is a hybrid performance,” she added. “There are living performers doing the installation and it will be physically intense.”