Having launched her career as the unofficial visual accomplice to Eurythmics and Annie Lennox, Sophie Muller directed two dozen videos for them in total, before going on to work with the likes of Blur, Coldplay, Pink, The Strokes, Gwen Stefani and even Dolly Parton. But while pop stars can be volatile sorts, nothing and no one is more unpredictable than the weather itself.
But Alexander McQueen surely felt Muller was up for the challenge, as they enlisted her to capture the tumultuous nature of the elements themselves. The result is the enigmatically beautiful Spring/Summer 2022 campaign film Storm Chasing, which was shot on the rooftop of the brand’s Clerkenwell HQ. And with the London skyline acting as the scenery, the cast of models is set against a backdrop that includes such disparate architectural icons as St. Paul’s Cathedral and the London Eye. But it’s the storm clouds whooshing in and out of the frame that so vividly draw out the complex character of the S/S ’22 collection itself.
Creative Director Sarah Burton notably concepted the collection while having the very skies in mind, with images of the surrounding London skyline actually imprinted on some of the garments. Citing the mercurial nature of weather itself, she draws parallels to the design philosophy of the house of McQueen.
“I love the idea of embracing the mystery and unpredictability of the sky,” she enthuses, “the fact it is always moving, always changing. I look out over London from our studio where the views are incredible and represent our home throughout history. The sky may be calm and restorative at times and menacing at others, and for me, the tension between the two is extremely inspiring. It also evokes the paradoxes that have always been at the heart of Alexander McQueen.”
In recent years, of course, humanity has seemed to be at odds with nature itself, with extreme weather incidents worryingly on the rise due to escalating climate change. Leave it to McQueen, and Muller, to capture that tension in a film, and in the clothes that it so breathtakingly elucidates.
