Behind the lens: McQueen by Suffo Moncloa

Behind the striking images of the Autumn Winter 2025 collection, shot backstage at the show, is Suffo Moncloa. A visceral evocation of the collection's distinctive shapes and tactile details, his work encapsulates the foundational qualities of McQueen. A master of both digital and analogue mediums, Moncloa is celebrated for his unique ability to find moments of stillness and grace amid a frenetic environment, such as backstage at the Galerie de Géologie et de Minéralogie, Paris.

Tell us about how you approach image making and the elements of photography that particularly speak to you.

For me, it always starts with character: how someone carries themselves, how their presence shifts in little gestures or silences. Beauty isn’t just surface, it’s layered and alive. Then light comes in, it’s what shapes everything, like a sculptor’s tool.

I often think of what Susan Sontag said about photographs being a “carnal medium”, a direct trace of light. Almost like a delayed ray of light that keeps carrying memory and emotion forward. That’s what I want my images to do: not just work for a season, but stay with you.

What were you trying to evoke with these images?

I try not to over plan what an image should be before I take it. I like to leave space for surprise. But I do have one guiding thought: timelessness. Even on a commercial job, I’m thinking about how these pictures might feel years from now. I see my role as bridging fashion and fine art by giving a brand’s vision its moment, but also a sense of longevity.

Which specific elements of the collection were you responding to?

I was really drawn to the shoulder lines and those Victorian silhouettes — they felt sculptural and cinematic. The whole atmosphere was already powerful: the music, the movement, the way hair and makeup shaped each character.

And photographing against a white background, as SJ Todd suggested, was brilliant. It stripped away context and let us see those Victorian references with fresh eyes. It’s almost like looking at contemporary sculpture. For me it felt like photographing time itself: folded and reinterpreted.

Which specific looks resonated with you and why?

Kirsten Owen’s white look is still vivid in my mind. She has this magnetic presence — mature, poised, but with a quiet kind of subversive power. For me, it wasn’t only about the garment. It was also about seeing her through the history of images. I first noticed her years ago in a Juergen Teller story for Joe’s Magazine, and to see her again here felt like a full circle. It is the persistence of character across time.