Fashion designer Iris van Herpen took inspiration from artist Anthony Howe’s kinetic sculptures when creating this series of delicate and hypnotic garments for Paris Haute Couture week.

The Dutch designer presented her latest collection, titled Hypnosis, on 1 July 2019 at Élysée Montmartre in Paris for the city’s Haute Couture fashion week. Comprised of 19 different, multilayered looks, Hypnosis aims to reflect “the beauty and complexity of our environment” by mimicking the delicate patterns and structures found in nature.

The designer worked with Anthony Howe for the show, which was staged around a spherical Omniverse sculpture created by the American artist that models passed through as they walked down the runway. Numerous metal stems protrude from a central, circular structure. This was covered in layers of silk discs that slowly rotate to give the effect of a pulsating “portal”-like archway.

Howe’s sculpture aims to represent a “universal life cycle”, designed as an exploration of humans’ relationship with nature. The three-dimensional cyclical harmony of Howe’s kinetic sculptures is the wind beneath the wings of this collection. The meditative movement of the Omniverse serves as a portal for the collection and the models, encircling a state of hypnosis.