Among those keeping an eye out for the next big thing in menswear, Craig Green is already a star. Since launching his label in 2012, the 30-year-old has built a following with his unusual designs, which often start with unconventional fabrics and uniforms as their template before arriving at an outcome that can look as much like armor as clothing. He has won a handful of prestigious awards, including menswear designer of the year at the British Fashion Awards this past December, and high-end shops around the world, such as Dover Street Market in Tokyo and Barneys in New York, have put their money behind his clothes.
Among the wider public, he’s not very well-known. But come May, the release of the much-anticipated next installment of Ridley Scott’s Alien series, starring Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, and James Franco, will give millions a good look at his work.
Green is collaborating on the costumes in Alien: Covenant, and his stylistic stamp, including the abundant straps and lacing that give his clothes a utilitarian and reconstructed feel, are already evident. He recently posted on Instagram two stills from the upcoming movie that have his unmistakable touches on them. Both stills are visible in the trailers that have been released so far.
Janty Yates, the movie’s costume designer, enlisted Green after seeing his fall 2015 collection, which was just his second solo show at London fashion week. (His first received rapturous reviews, with some likening him to fashion legends Vivienne Westwood and Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons.)
By then, he was already establishing the signatures that make his style a seamless fit for the industrial, dystopian vibe of the Alien movies. Indeed, Vogue said the figures he sent down the runway in his latest show looked “sunk in some terrifying end-of-the-world battle for survival.”
It’s unclear whether Green’s style was influenced by Alien‘s aesthetic—but he does count himself as a fan of the classic sci-fi franchise. “I grew up with Alien,” he told the Financial Times (paywall) for a profile this January. “I love horror films. My mum used to let me and my sister watch them when we were younger.”
Initially, he admits, he didn’t reply to Yates’s emails, not knowing who she was, but she followed up with a visit to his studio to make the connection. “Maybe I should reply to more emails,” he said.
Green’s sales, meanwhile, are growing along with his profile. Bergdorf Goodman and the e-commerce site Mr. Porter, both prestigious retailers for a young designer to be carried by, have picked up his line for the first time.