Craig Green is one of British menwear’s most lauded designers – he’s also one of its most cerebral. In the wake of his AW16 collection, which centred around ideas of protection, Green has unveiled his darkly poetic SS16 campaign.

Green’s AW15 ad (his first) was shot by Nick Knight, something he describes as a “once in a lifetime opportunity”. Describing it as an “art series”, this campaign was more of a personal affair. He collaborated with Amy Gwatkin and Vincent Levy who he’s worked with since “the very, very beginning”. “It’s all of us from the studio under those black sheets,” he laughs. “We all went to the Isle of Sheppey in like a big van. It was a bit like a school trip or a family outing.” This location, he says, had the “bleakness and nowhere-ness” that he was looking for.

“It was in the middle of a farmer’s field and we climbed over a fence and were just climbing around a big pile of ground-up bones” – Craig Green

Green also said that he wanted the campaign to convey a darker energy than the show (with all “the boobs and the bright colours”). Focused on the monochromatic elements of the collection, several images were shot against a suitably dark backdrop: a mountain of ground-up bones. “It was in the middle of a farmer’s field and we climbed over a fence and were just climbing around a big pile of ground-up bones. I just thought there was something quite beautiful it,” he recalls. “Someone said it looked a bit like Madonna’s ‘Frozen’, which wasn’t really the intention but I guess it does have that kind of feeling.”

On the hotly debated state of contemporary fashion, Green chose not to bemoan its breakneck speed, instead claiming that that was one of the things which appealed to him about it. “I wanted to do fine art, but the fact that fashion was so competitive and fast was really attractive,” he said. “I mean, we struggle like all brands do, but we’re OK at the moment with two seasons.” Green also alludes to a womenswear collection – a prospect he describes as quite daunting. Daunting it may be, but for all the women fawning over his menswear collections, this will come as very welcome news.