Casey Cadwallader Makes His Directorial Debut With Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Plan B’ Video

Casey Cadwallader, the creative director of Mugler who has recast the storied maison as a go-to for nearly every pop star of the moment, adds another feather to his cap today. For the very first time, he’s tacking the title of director onto his already stacked résumé with Megan Thee Stallion’s latest music video for her single, “Plan B.” On June 1, the singer teased the visuals for “Plan B,” a tough and sassy diss track that doubles down on Thee Hot Girl Coach’s position of power when it comes to relationships. (The song also notably gives a shout-out to the French label: “Mugler suit in my meetings,” Megan raps in it.) Given the fact that Meg has worn Mugler for her “WAP” video with Cardi B, in addition to the black bodysuit that’s become a part of Cadwallader’s signature DNA during his tenure for her appearance at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, it only makes sense that the designer would be involved in the rapper’s work on a more granular level. Megan, Cadwallader explained during a Zoom meeting with reporters on June 2, reached out to him with a pitch to direct her video months ago.

“I was like, You know I’m a fashion designer, right?,” he recalled, seated at his home in Paris. “I didn’t really know if I could do this, but my husband was like, ‘You have to do this.’”

Together with the artist John Miserendino—who has worked on both the spring and fall 2021 Mugler videos, along with some fragrance commercials—Cadwallader got to work on the concept for “Plan B,” compiling their pitch in a 60-page document that described “line by line everything that was going to happen for every bar of the song,” Cadwallader said. The result was a pared-down, minimal video that features Megan against a black background, wearing Mugler head-to-toe: a black corset top in the style of the signature bodysuit, a pair of thigh-high tights, an inky black jacket, and a pair of jeans—all of which are part of the label’s spring 2023 line, which released today. “In a funny way, [the music video] became the collection debut,” the designer added with a chuckle.

The designer was involved in all aspects of the video shoot, from the aesthetics to (obviously) the fittings in Los Angeles with the musician ahead of the shoot, which also took place in L.A. “I love Megan the most when she has no makeup on, because she’s just a stunning person,” Cadwallader said. “The song is ’90s-inspired and I wanted it to be super, super clean; I wanted it all to just frame her.”

The imagery of the video mirrors the aesthetic of the Billboard Music Awards performance—which saw Megan wearing the same black bodysuit that’s become the uniform for the likes of Dua Lipa, Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, and Doja Cat. When asked whether Cadwallader had set out to make this look a must for the pop girlies, he responded that it wasn’t quite as premeditated.

“There are a lot of bodysuits in the Mugler archive to begin with,” he said. “But I realized I really wanted to work for performers. Mugler is a house that everyone knows for couture, and I do ready-to-wear. Manfred Thierry Mugler’s work is decadent and huge and embroidered—and for me, the idea for doing these custom projects for celebrities is now [my way of] doing couture.

“Working on Beyoncé’s On the Run II tour, I learned a lot about the needs of an artist on stage—and she has the most needs because her movements cannot be impeded,” he went on. “And I was like, Okay, a performer essentially wants to feel safe on stage, they don’t want to fall out of something. When Megan did her performance in Vegas, I made [her look] into a bodysuit so that it was more secure for her bum. Because when you’re dancing like she does, you have to keep everything safe.”