Horse heads and a giant rabbit: Honey Birdette gets kinky sinister

Australian lingerie label Honey Birdette has embarked on its raunchiest photo shoot yet for Halloween, channelling into a dark and sinister theme for its daring undies.

Australian lingerie label Honey Birdette has taken a bold step forward in the fashion stakes, using an iconic photographer who has shot the likes of Kate Moss and David Bowie to work on their latest campaign.

German photographer Ellen von Unwerth has worked on campaigns for Chanel and Dior and directed music videos for Beyonce.

But last month, the former model, turned her lens to the Australian brand’s Halloween ‘So Kinky’ campaign.

Iconic German photographer Ellen von Unwerth shot Honey Birdette's Halloween campaign in Paris.

von Unwerth has shot Kate Moss, Claudia Schiffer and David Bowie.

Pictures from the Honey Birdette Halloween campaign.

The campaign was shot in Paris, with founder Eloise Monaghan saying Sydney’s lockdowns prevented them from shooting here.

“We love doing those editorial-style photo shoots, so I said to my PA ‘see if you can get Ellen’,” she said.

Monaghan then met von Unwerth, who had just returned from New York Fashion week, in a cafe and four days later she was shooting for her. It’s another momentous step for the brand which was sold to Playboy for $433 million this year.

Ellen Von Unwerth with model and actor Cara Delevingne.

“We weren‘t going to do a Halloween shoot at first..but then over a glass of champagne, we went from a concept involving two girls to a cast of 40 including performers from the Crazy Horse and Lido cabarets,” Monaghan said.

“We had Parisian drag queens, people in horse heads, a giant rabbit. And it was all organised in a few days. We were blessed to be surrounded by some very tenacious people, and Ellen was absolutely amazing to work with.”

von Unwerth also came up with the name of Honey Birdette's campaign.

Von Unwerth also inadvertently came up with the name of the new campaign.

“Ellen came out from one of the shots and said ‘it’s so kinky!’

So the name of the campaign is ’So Kinky’,” Monaghan said.

Pictures from the Honey Birdette Halloween campaign.

The campaign was shot in Paris.

Monaghan added it’s a much darker collection than they’ve done in the past.

“Now we’re getting more sinister,” Monaghan said.

“Honey Birdette has to evolve and not just follow trends, but get in front of them.”