French photographer and filmmaker Babette Pauthier’s video God Save McQueen is a study in dark kaleidoscopic beauty. Having already shot a series of still lives for the Alexander McQueen SS11 scarf collection, this film is a reverie of light and movement.

“It’s a metaphor for a constant rebirth through butterflies hatching out their chrysalis,” says Pauthier. “I was also inspired by Parmenides of Elea and his poem On Nature and on A rebours (Against Nature) by Joris-Karl Huysmans. It’s also a sort of homage to the designer himself.”

With its choral music and flickering insect imagery, God Save McQueen is a transcendent ode to the designer whose iconic skull scarf is part of his enduring legacy.

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Tags: Alexander Mcqueen, Babette Pauthier, Huysmans, Parmenides