Iris van Herpen ~ 'Transmotion' Short Film

Iris van Herpen unveils the ‘Transmotion’ dress and the eponymous short film, featuring mesmeric muse and on-screen maven Carice van Houten. Like most, the start of 2020 has seen Iris van Herpen operating closer to home. Paying homage to the brand’s Dutch roots, the homegrown actress serves as both inspiration and collaborator, starring in the film by Ryan McDaniels, that references the illusionary style of Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher. The term transmotion not only depicts the process of change from one state, form, style or place to another, it is also the visionary perceptions of the seasons and the visual scenes of motion in art and literature. In parallel to Iris van Herpen’s drive to visualise the invisible, her quest to question reality and urge to explore the realms of impossibility, the project aims to narrate the process that ushers change, to materialise an unconscious state of meditation. The ‘Transmotion’ dress radiates in a diaphanous bloom of white silk organza, translucent layers pleated within the confines of an undulating form, tracing the fluid outline of the creation. Contrasted against the frailty of sheer petals, black branches of duchess satin were laser-cut, hand-stitched and form the central roots of the garment. Threads of inspiration for the graphic yet organic extensions derive from the intricate art of Ruth Asawa. This geometric lattice recalls humankind’s inclination to tame nature. Beneath the surface, the branching also re