Iris Van Herpen, whose otherworldly couture frequently draws on marine life and cutting-edge science, has been selected as the first recipient of the inaugural Perrier-Jouët Design for Nature Award, WWD has learned.
The Dutch couturier and artist has been offered carte blanche to create a unique work that will be showcased at the 2026 edition of Design Miami, co-creator of the new prize alongside the Champagne house, founded in 1811.
The award “invites designers to investigate sustainability through the spirit of Art Nouveau — a philosophy that celebrates the profound interconnectedness of nature, culture and creativity,” Perrier-Jouët said in a release shared first with WWD. “The award encourages projects that merge artistic innovation with environmental responsibility, fostering collaborative and regenerative design practices.”
Van Herpen’s most recent couture collection, presented in Paris last July, included a “living look” made of millions of bioluminescent algae, and a dress made with a cutting-edge “brewed protein” material.
Iris Van Herpen fall 2025 couture
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
Axelle de Buffévent, global culture and creative director at Pernod Ricard Group, owner of Perrier-Jouët, called Van Herpen an “obvious choice” for the inaugural prize.
“There’s a lot of biomimicry in her work, and her approach is so interesting,” de Buffévent said. “We really wanted to award a different view on sustainability, something that is joyful that relates to optimism.
“Iris is clearly someone who has a very interdisciplinary approach,” she added.
“She really is the strongest representative of avant-garde innovation in fashion,” echoed Glenn Adamson, curatorial director of Design Miami. “We were struck by her ability to work across not just genres of design, but intellectual arenas.…She also has a very high regard for craft that offsets her computational and digital prowess.”
To get Van Herpen inspired for the commission, she was invited to visit the Maison Perrier-Jouët in Épernay, France, converse with its cellar master, and discover its ecosystem.
Iris Van Herpen
Courtesy of Perrier-Jouet
While Van Herpen has mounted exhibitions in museums dedicated to fashion, contemporary art or decorative arts, this will be the first time she will present new work in relation to the design world, de Buffévent noted.
According to Adamson, there’s a “high degree of sophistication and awareness of fashion in our constituency” – and a growing interest in sustainability, too.
“It’s of concern to everybody now, and you see lots of designers exploring it in many different ways throughout the fair, for example, using recycled materials or new experimental biomaterials,” he said.
Van Herpen said she is in the early stages of conceptualizing her project for Design Miami 2026, which she said will allow her to deepen her search “for a new symbiosis between art and nature.”
“Every act of creation extracts something from nature, and I believe in giving back with the same inventiveness and wonder,” she told WWD. “I hope to invite others to move in resonance with the living world around us.”
Hardly new to the sustainability space, Perrier-Jouët has since 2012 collaborated with various creatives and exhibited their works at major art and design fairs.
This year, Perrier-Jouët will showcase a collaboration with Polish artist and designer Marcin Rusak during Miami Art Week, which runs from Tuesday through Sunday at Faena beach.
