Great Outfits in Fashion History: Danai Gurira in Iris van Herpen

Any time Iris van Herpen is on a red carpet, it’s spectacular — but this look was especially great.

There are perfectly good celebrity style moments, and then there are the looks that really stick with you, the ones you try desperately to recreate at home. In ‘Great Outfits in Fashion History,’ Fashionista editors are revisiting their all-time favorite lewks.

The fashion industry frequently looks to Iris van Herpen for her imaginative designs, innovative use of materials and intersectional approach to collaboration. That’s why it’s so exciting when we see her name pop up outside of the context of Haute Couture Fashion Week.

This isn’t the most recent Iris van Herpen sighting on the red carpet, but it’s a good one nonetheless: Danai Gurira wore a black and white organza mini dress with butterfly wing-esque fluttering sleeves from the designer’s Fall 2017 haute couture collection (which also marked her 10th anniversary) to the season nine premiere of “The Walking Dead” in L.A. back in 2018. That whole line was inspired by water and air, so the rippling 3-D fabric on the garment almost mimics the look of waves in the ocean, with the striped gradient fabric adding a cool optical effect. Beyond the garment itself, this outfit also represents a true meeting of the minds, between an inventive designer and a multi-hyphenate muse — inspired all around.

Shop organza dresses and simple strappy heels in the gallery, below.