No stranger to the fashion world, the mercurial Kanye West has added yet another impressive notch to his resume with his latest music video for ‘Wolves’.
The moody black-and-white video, directed by Steven Klein, successfully doubles as a campaign for French fashion pioneers Balmain, and it’s safe to say it has been a successful marketing strategy with the video having already received well over 3 million views since it’s release on the 29th of July.
The collaboration comes as no real surprise considering that Mr.West is currently the face of the brand’s 2016 Fall campaign, but the inclusion of featured artists such as Sia and Vic Mensa as well as West’s own wife, Kim Kardashian, elevates the music video to a very glamourous game of “Where’s Wally?”. It’s certainly a different kettle of fish to the nude wax figures that festooned the ‘Famous’ video. And we think it works very, very well.
Unashamedly heralding style over substance, the video does still pack an emotional punch via its depiction of a tearful Kim and Kanye as they are both violently hounded by the wolves of the paparazzi (cue the inevitable “So that’s why the song is called Wolves!”) but it’s the impressive clothes that take centre-stage here to provide a truly impressive aesthetic. Whether you’re a fan of Kanye or not, it’s hard to deny that this is a great example of cross-promotion.
Well played, Mr.West. Well played.
