Watch John Waters Talk Transgression in Saint Laurent’s New Campaign

Cult filmmaker John Waters is the star of Saint Laurent’s Autumn/Winter 2020 campaign, released today. Waters is photographed by David Sims for the campaign, in the house style of sleek black and white, wearing Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello.

In a series of photographs and a film by Sims, Waters appears in pieces from Saint Laurent’s Autumn/Winter 2020 men’s collection. “My name is John Waters,” the filmmaker states in the film. “Transgression is when you break the rules and you make people laugh. It’s really mind control.” In dark sunglasses and with his signature thin black moustache, Waters is seen hazily reflected in a mirror, or simply stood in an echoing studio. In one photograph, he pulls an irreverent, snarling face.

Known for his sardonic and ‘deliciously filthy’ filmmaking – immortalised in movies like Pink Flamingos and Multiple Maniacs – Waters is an icon across the worlds of film, art and fashion. “Glamour is self-confidence with an extreme style that others do not agree with,” Waters, who was once dubbed ‘the Pope of Trash’, told us in a round of 50 Questions in 2018. 

In his outing for Saint Laurent, Waters joins Lenny Kravitz as campaign star: the singer’s own shots, also lensed by Sims, were revealed on the brand’s Instagram account earlier this month. Previous seasons have seen the brand tap other cultural icons to front campaigns: Keanu Reeves, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson have all appeared, also shot by Sims.