Fall 2020 Haute Couture: Iris van Herpen's Tranmotion dress

Iris Van Herpen created the ‘Transmotion’ dress, which radiates in a diaphanous bloom of white silk organza, translucent layers pleated within the confines of an undulating form. Contrasted against the frailty of the sheer petals, black branches of duchess satin were laser-cut, hand-stitched and form the central roots of the garment.

For Van Herpen, this geometric lattice “recalls humankind’s inclination to tame nature. Beneath the surface, the branching also reveals the synonymity of mycorrhizal networks (the Wood Wide Web) and the symbiotic nature within human communities. Like fronds frozen in time, crystalline filaments sprout from the heart of the dress. Portraying delicate new life, black seed-like crystals punctuate the tip of each stamen like strand. “

”The concept of the creation stems from the notion of growth and regeneration. The seemingly simple seed is the embodiment of life and the potential that comes with it. A seed embedded upside down in dirt still sees the seedling growing the right way up. The dress follows symmetry in both its axis and without context, indiscernible which way is up or down. Motion and fluidity involved in the formation of tessellations highlight the capacity to shift between negatives and positives. Amidst an era when polarising ideologies are heightened, the work reflects upon the nature of perception.” - Iris van Herpen, July 2020