Swarovski launches 'other-worldly' campaign, works with Meisel, McGrath

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 31, 2023

High-profile jewellery brand Swarovski has launched a new campaign, Metamorphosis, to celebrate “joyful self-expression and the transformative power of crystals”.

Shot by fashion photographer Steven Meisel and conceived by Creative Director Giovanna Engelbert, the campaign is brought to life by the styling of celebrity make-up artist Pat McGrath.

It features a series of “otherworldly creatures” representing Swarovski’s Florere, Idyllia, Gema, Dextera, and Millenia jewellery families, “reimagined in a fantastical new light” by McGrath’s make-up artistry as tropical flora and fauna.

Specifically, Meisel brings to life Swarovski’s jewellery designs in four portraits “embodying the personalities” of the Butterfly, Parrot, Pineapple and Turtle, with “each character a testament to joyful extravagance and the wonder of the natural world”, said the company.

We’re told the campaign also draws on the brand’s Austrian heritage for inspiration, “taking its cues from the magical garden rooms created by Empress Maria-Theresa at Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace in the 18th century”.

Engelbert explained: “Maria-Theresa’s garden rooms are populated from her dreams. They are fantastical spaces painted with murals of exotic flora and fauna from around the globe that would never naturally share the same habitat. In the same way, I wanted to create an enchanted crystal garden that does not exist in nature but still brings the same joy.”