The making of Iris Van Herpen‘s “Sympoiesis” collection took months of exploration, research and development, dialogue, and construction inside the designer’s atelier. For its start, the line didn’t begin with a sketch, but with a question: How do we embody the ocean’s fragility, its force, and its future in fabric? From then, the atelier transformed into a symbiotic space between craftsmanship and biodesign. Garments were sculpted like translucent waves, layer by layer, echoing tidal motion and marine evolution. In one corner, algae glowed quietly in seawater baths, their delicate cycles monitored with reverence. In another, ultra-fine airfabric is seen drifting between fingers.