Iris van Herpen unveils plasma-filled glass gown at Paris Couture Week

Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen debuted the Helix Nebula dress at Paris Couture Week, featuring plasma-filled glass horns that glow red when touched. Created with American artist Mundy Hepburn, the dress uses ionized gas that responds to the wearer's body conductivity. The gown is covered in 8,000 hand-blown glass spheres bonded with UV light, similar to her earlier Met Gala dress for Eileen Gu. Helix Nebula is part of the Sonic Starquakes collection, referencing universal energy flows. Van Herpen called it the first garment to use plasma, the fourth state of matter. Paris Couture Week concluded on July 10, 2026.