Iris, starring supermodel and campaign star for Trussardi, MaxMara and DSquared2 Iris Strubegger.
“All of my fashion films are named after the model,” says director Barnaby Roper, a photographer turned filmmaker whose previous work includes music videos for artists including Robyn and OK Go, as well as a series of edgy, adrenaline-packed and technologically innovative films for Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio. “I’m interested in showing these people… letting the viewer into the model,” he continues. “You never hear a model talk.” In a previous film with Natasa Vojnovic he changed all that, asking her to strip nude and reminisce about her upbringing in Bosnia.
When it came to working with Eniko Mihalik, he went for a different, but equally innovative approach, creating an interactive film in which users could cut between various shots of Eniko (and different clips of music) by tapping their keyboards. “I’ve done a lot of music videos and its like kids don’t even look at the three-minute videos anymore,” he says. “They’ll watch the first 30 seconds and then they’ll skip to the end. That’s why interactive films are so good. I’ve been told that babies, little babies, love Eniko because they’re pressing buttons. That’s where that idea came from almost––kids, a baby toy.” In today’s video he displays his supreme editing skills, conducting visual experiments upon the geometry of Strubegger’s body as she spins around a fixed axis, clad in a series of increasingly exaggerated looks. It’s all driven by the shutter-like editing, inspired in part by the surrealist’s favorite parlor game: exquisite corpse. “It’s the rhythm of the edit that’s the key to the film, the key to all films,” says Roper.
Iris wears clothes by Stella McCartney, Miu Miu, Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, Céline, Proenza Schouler, Doo Ri and accessories by Iosselliani, Pamela Love, Genevieve Jones, Made Her Think, Mawi, Carolina Amato, Kristen Farrell, Rochelle Goldberg and Fenton.