Today Croydon-born rapper Stormzy dropped the music video for his latest track “Mel Made Me Do It." His first in two years, the Heavy is the Head artist's video is a 10-minute long, 14-look strong triumph that has lit up the internet.
“We had this big conversation about the new direction for him,” Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe, Stormzy's personal stylist who gives the song its name, tells me exclusively from Ghana where tomorrow she will dress the artist for a performance at the Global Citizen concert.
“With the music video and the clothes in particular we wanted to reflect where he's going with his personal life, where there's lots of growth and maturity.” Holdbrook-Akposoe is Stormzy's long-time stylist, having first worked with him a couple of years ago for his appearance at the Capital Summertime Ball, before reuniting with him for his 2019 “Vossi Bop” music video, and styling him ever since.
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The music video, which has come to fruition after first being discussed at the beginning of 2022, is jam-packed with big fits from the likes of Prada, Valentino, Louis Vuitton and Dior, and is undeniably Stormzy's biggest fashion moment to date. Historically Stormzy has been associated with his love of tracksuits (he made a name for himself in 2015 when his first big hit “Shut Up” aired, which had him in a scarlet Adidas two-piece), but for the video, he wanted to try something new. “I'm always getting on to him about, you know, looking different ways and looking more classy,” Holdbrook-Akposoe explains. “He turned around to me one day and said, 'you know what, with this music video, you can do whatever you like, within reason, of course, but whatever you've envisioned for me so far, I will let you just have full rein to do it,'" she continues.
Naturally this was a seismic moment for the stylist, who has grown accustomed to Stormzy's “comfort-first” way of dressing – “I was so excited, I couldn't believe what I was hearing." She tells me that she had looks waiting in her storage that she had hoped he'd one day let her put him in. "He is very self-assured and in tune with himself and I've never wanted to push him into wearing something he doesn't feel comfortable in, as at the end of the day that's always what's important for him.”
Together with Stormzy, his publicist and her own assistants, Cherelle Miller and Myriam Baldi, Holdbrook-Akposoe – who most people will know by her Instagram handle and moniker “Melissa's Wardrobe” (she has her own following of 280,000 users) – began to work on the creative for the project, which she describes as a mini movie as opposed to a music video. She tells me that a lot of people might watch the video and not see it as a huge jump fashion-wise for Stormzy, but that he and herself recognise it as a progressive step, as today he is more interested to look aesthetically pleasing and has really delved into fashion, learning different brands and their styles as he goes.
Meanwhile, Stormzy is all about tailoring – “it's non-negotiable now” – and won't go near an outfit unless it's been perfectly fit to his frame. “There's not necessarily completely new or outrageous looks in the video, but the silhouettes are slightly different and unlike anything he's worn,” she explains. “There's a burgundy Valentino look that is slightly dropped at the shoulders and is oversized, same with another Jaquemus look. It's something Stormzy notices, and as a performer, these things can be restrictive, but he's open to trying them now. We've been playing around with things he typically wouldn't wear before."
Stormzy has long been a fan of all black outfits, but this video sees him jump on colour like never before – neon hues, deep burgundy and cerulean blue. Yet, he's not quite ready to dabble in dazzling patterns and attention-grabbing technicolour you might expect from a global performer – although there's plans for that still. “We ventured into colour with the colour-blocked looks, so we've introduced colour subtly to his wardrobe, but I do plan to get him into some big patterns and inject more vibrant colours in there as right now they're more muted," says Holdbrook-Akposoe.
The music video also gives us a glimpse at Stormzy's unrivalled watch collection. He spits at one point “I wear my 5990 in the gym”, which is a reference to one of his Patek Philippe pieces. “He actually wears a 5990 in the gym and the look, which comprises sweats and a vest, is a parody of that,” Holdbrook-Akposoe tells me. “Whenever he buys a new watch he lets me know and I'll think up outfits around the watch. The watch is the centre of the outfit every time and everything else works with it.”
For the music video, Stormzy can be seen in a further burgundy crocodile strapped Patek Philippe Nautilus 5980, which was paired with the aforementioned burgundy Valentino look, while there's another gold Patek Aquanaut 5168, and another, which Holdbrook-Akposoe teamed with an electric blue Jacquemus co-ord. There are a couple of Audemars Piguet timepieces in there, one of which is a Royal Oak openwork skeleton and was worn with a Louis Vuitton pocket-heavy jacket, from Virgil Abloh's time at the brand.
On Abloh, Holdbrook-Akposoe tells me that Stormzy is big on supporting Black greatness, notably Black-led and owned brands. “We wanted to showcase British talent Bianca Saunders and hers is one of the looks that is most prevalent in the video,” she explains, detailing a speckled, thick-cut cobalt two-piece boxy fit that the rapper wears to walk his dogs in. Stormzy had seen some of Saunders' collections and knew who she was when he was told the look was one of hers, and he felt it was the right look to push in the video. “Whenever I go to Stormzy and say this is a Black-owned brand, he's always on board.”
And while she might be the woman dressing him behind the scenes at this stage in his career, Holdbrook-Akposoe has a starring role in the video. “There's a look where he and I are together and we're wearing these matching lime green Bottega Veneta and Mugler outfits, it felt iconic,” she says. He needed some persuading, as typically Stormzy isn't a fan of boots, but once he saw the end result he was into it.
As for what's next for Stormzy on this style journey? “We're styling him for Global Citizen tomorrow, which is the next step on his journey and he will be wearing a Black-owned brand, Biglommoz Couture, who is from Ghana and Stormzy is Ghanaian, so that's important.” Holdbrook-Akposoe also declares that his tracksuit days aren't over. “Let's just say he's still going to wear tracksuits, but they're going to be cashmere. We've got a fashion icon in the making.”
