Born in 1984 in Wamel, The Netherlands, Iris van Herpen studied fashion design at ArtEZ, Arnhem. She worked at Alexander McQueen and Claudy Jongstra in 2005 before starting her namesake label in 2007.

In 2008, van Herpen was nominated for the prestigious Createurope Award. She won the Dutch Fashion Awards and the RADO Young Designer Awards in 2010.

Van Herpen became a member of the prestigious French Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in 2011. She exhibits her work at home and abroad. Her work was the solo subject of a large-scale exhibition at the Groninger Museum in 2012.