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jessicakehoe · 5 years

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An Exclusive Interview with Fashion’s OG Bad Boy, the Mysterious Manfred Thierry Mugler

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Manfred Thierry Mugler is tap dancing for me. It’s maybe the last thing I expected from the famously reclusive designer. But apparently it doesn’t take much to get Mugler dancing. “Your shoes are so cute!” he says, while doing an impromptu buffalo-step shuffle. “Very Fred Astaire.”

I look down at my two-toned spectator-ish flats and then back at Mugler, who is still moving with such casual grace that it seems unfair. He looks as if he could have eaten Fred Astaire, like he’d stepped out of a George Quaintance print so he could put on some leather in time to be in a Tom of Finland illustration.

Photography by Kat Irlin. Styling by Anna Katsanis. Creative direction by Brit Eccles. Hair, Dennis Lanni for Art Department/Oribe. Makeup, Joseph Carrillo for Atelier Management/Maybelline. Manicure, Geraldine Holford for Atelier Management/ Chanel Le Vernis. Fashion assistants, Paulina Castro Ogando and Kallie Biersach. Photography assistants, Ros Hayes and Bailey Sontag. Model, Josephine Skriver for The Society.

But his lightness and rhythm shouldn’t be surprising: Long before he became a celebrated designer, perfumer, photographer and artistic director, Mugler was a ballet dancer, and after he left fashion in 2002, he transformed his physique. “The physical mutation was a sort of return to myself—a repairing and reconstruction, too,” he once said.

“The physical mutation was a sort of return to myself—a repairing and reconstruction, too.”

We take our seats at the conference table at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) to chat about the Thierry Mugler: Couturissime exhibit that will open on March 2. It’s the first exhibition of his work and a considerable coup for the museum. Mugler has led a rather hermitic life for more than 15 years, since Clarins—which owned his clothing line—shuttered the business. This marked the end of a spectacular career that was launched in 1974 in Paris and reached its zenith in the ’80s and ’90s. But once Mugler was out, he distanced himself from the industry—and who the industry had made him into. He started referring to himself as Manfred (his first name), and he bulked up.

It left him practically unrecognizable, which was the intent, says Thierry-Maxime Loriot, the exhibit’s curator. “He told me that after he left the fashion industry, it annoyed him when people recognized him. He felt ‘Thierry Mugler’ was a label, a brand. He wanted to move on to other things.” However, Mugler still continued to work with Clarins on fragrances. In addition to the iconic Angel, which was released in 1992, he created Alien in 2005, Womanity in 2010 and Aura in 2017. Today, these scents—and the flankers that followed—continue to generate close to $757 million in annual sales.

Given his sensitivity about reliving his past, I ask Mugler how Loriot had seduced him into agreeing to the exhibit. “Oh, that’s a funky question,” he laughs, explaining that he appreciated they wanted to do a “creation rather than a retrospective.” At this point, Loriot, who also curated Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk and produced Viktor & Rolf: Fashion Artists, interjects that Mugler isn’t a nostalgic person. “He doesn’t look at his old work and say ‘These are my babies.’ Instead, he asks ‘How can we transform them?’”

During the two and a half years that it took to create the exhibit, the pair worked closely to choose more than 140 outfits that Mugler designed between 1973 and 2001. In addition, there are 100 photos of his designs, captured by Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts, as well as videos, sketches and costumes from his stage productions.

“He has always been an outlier whose work is provocative and unapologetically designed for women who own their sexuality and power.”

Loriot says the exhibit will be immersive, with animated holograms, infinity rooms and a wild forest created by Rodeo FX, the same company that created special effects for Game of Thrones and Birdman. “The main message behind the Mugler exhibit is to not fear your desires,” says Loriot. “His work is a timely example of what we’ve lost in the fashion world and what we’re beginning to crave again.”

Looking back at Mugler’s shows on YouTube, I can see that the designs were visionary, yet their fantastical, futuristic and sensual aesthetic seems out of step with fashion’s preoccupation with being real, relevant and representative. He was the first (pre-Alexander McQueen and pre-Marc Jacobs) to produce astonishingly theatrical runway shows. His advertising campaigns, which he often shot himself in exotic locales, fuelled pre-online #fomo envy.

His clients? Basically a stylish A-list gaggle that included David Bowie, Jerry Hall, Diana Ross, Ivana Trump, Celine Dion and all the iconic supermodels, not to mention Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. He has always been an outlier whose work is provocative and unapologetically designed for women who own their sexuality and power. It’s also for women—and audiences—who share his mischievous sense of humour.

Holly Brubach, who covered fashion for The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine during Mugler’s epoch, suggests that his work might be viewed with a different lens if it were being released today. “I think there might be a backlash about the way it presents women,” she tells me later, over the phone. “I suspect that the humour we saw at the time wouldn’t be there today. I think the striking thing about Mugler’s work is that the women who wore it owned it. It wasn’t something that had been imposed or foisted on them by some man and they were trying to look attractive based on his terms.”

“I think the striking thing about Mugler’s work is that the women who wore it owned it. It wasn’t something that had been imposed or foisted on them by some man and they were trying to look attractive based on his terms.”

Brubach interviewed Mugler for The New York Times in 1994, when she set up a Q&A between him and Linda Nochlin, a noted feminist art historian and critic. She thought they would be unlikely conversation mates because, at the time, some of Mugler’s designs could have been interpreted as sexist to an almost cartoonish degree.

To her surprise, however, they really hit it off. Nochlin felt that Mugler’s fashion empowered women to appropriate their own sexuality: “It’s so extreme that these women aren’t sex objects; they’re sex subjects,” she said.

But the designer also played with the notion of femininity. “Mugler was at the far end of the spectrum in fashion that was just on this side of drag,” explains Brubach. “One of the things that interest me about drag is what it says about women and what constitutes femininity—in terms of both appearance and behaviour. I think Mugler did the same thing, but he was doing it for women. It was a time when women were inventing themselves in unprecedented roles, and a big part of that was their appearance and trying to find a new way to be in the world.”

“It was a time when women were inventing themselves in unprecedented roles, and a big part of that was their appearance and trying to find a new way to be in the world.”

Eric Wilson shares Brubach’s fondness for Mugler’s work. His first (and only) encounter with Mugler took place in 2010, when he wrote a profile on the designer for The New York Times to coincide with the launch of Womanity. “I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, and he was one of the first names in fashion that I connected with,” recalls Wilson, who is now the fashion news director for InStyle.

“To see his work through the lens of contemporary society will be fascinating. These pieces did cause controversy in their time, but I predict people will react positively to these clothes because they are so different from anything you see in the world. There’s this embrace of the superhero mystique, which is really important in his work as it’s about fantasy and assuming different identities. It’s like a warrior putting on a battle suit.”

“When I look at his pieces, it’s really clear to me that the intent wasn’t at all about misogyny but, rather, empowerment. His designs were progressive, and his vision was remarkable.”

Wilson adds that Mugler’s work references comic books and adventure series that were created by populations in America that had been oppressed, such as Jewish people and gay men. “It was really about breaking out of the boundaries that are imposed on us and that we impose on ourselves,” he says. “When I look at his pieces, it’s really clear to me that the intent wasn’t at all about misogyny but, rather, empowerment. His designs were progressive, and his vision was remarkable.”

And how does Mugler think a younger generation will react to his chrome-corseted robot women and vampy femme fatales encased in vinyl and rubber? “I hope they will look at the quality,” he says. “I think beauty is the human emotional vehicle between us and it’s very important. It’s important in architecture and painting and art, but people don’t invest in beauty anymore. They invest in violence, and that’s why I tell people to look beyond the sexual aggressivity that’s sometimes in my clothes: Don’t look at the cliché; look at the way it was done. There was always this balance to make it beautiful, high-class and respectful for the human being.”

“[Beauty is] important in architecture and painting and art, but people don’t invest in beauty anymore. They invest in violence, and that’s why I tell people to look beyond the sexual aggressivity that’s sometimes in my clothes.”

I’m not entirely sure what Mugler means, but I suspect he’s urging us—as he always has with his work—to think beyond what is predictable. While he likely came into the world imprinted to be an iconoclast, Mugler says he was fortunate to have met exceptional people who pushed him forward—from the person who helped him get past his hippie life, living on a houseboat in Amsterdam, to the person who helped him come down from his mushroom-laden life in Kerala, India.

Later, it was the coach who transformed his physique and the body therapist who understood that pain is a necessary part of growth. Most importantly, four years ago, he also met the man he calls the love of his life. “He’s the most free, real, simple and beautiful person I have ever met,” says Mugler. “I do have a lucky star on me.”

That star has been a recurring motif in Mugler’s work—both in his designs and even in the shape of the iconic Angel fragrance bottle. On his right hand, he wears a macaron-size golden star ring that he describes as his armour. His fascination with stars began when he was a boy.

He’d often run away from home and spend the night on a bench staring up at the sky. He always looked for one blue star, which he felt was a harbinger of better times. The night sky continued to comfort Mugler when he estranged himself from his parents at 14 to join the ballet in his hometown of Strasbourg, France.

A writer once suggested that his adolescent discontent stemmed from his feeling conflicted about his sexuality, but Mugler scoffs at that suggestion. “I didn’t have a problem with my sexuality or identity,” he says. “I had a problem with my family, and I had a problem with the world. I was feeling out of place, and I was feeling very miserable. I was in the ballet for six years, and no one in my family came to see me onstage; I was the ugly duckling who left the theatre alone. I guess I was too bizarre. I would watch the skies at night and look for the blue star and know that I had to hold on.”

“I didn’t have a problem with my sexuality or identity. I had a problem with my family, and I had a problem with the world. I was feeling out of place, and I was feeling very miserable.”

It’s a beautiful, sad, poignant memory. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost call it nostalgic. Of course, stars aren’t Mugler’s only inspiration. Animals—and the symbolism behind them—find their way into his work, including the mythical phoenix and the boar. The first is a fitting metaphor for a man who has undergone his own dramatic metamorphosis—in terms of both his career and his body.

But what about the boar? A Google search reveals that this creature symbolizes freedom. “‘Boars have few predators, so they have the luxury of living freer than most creatures,’” I read out to Mugler. “‘They do what they want, when they want.’ That pretty much sums you up, doesn’t it?” He laughs, sits back in his chair and says: “I love that. I’ll go for that.”

See every look we pulled from the Thierry Mugler archives as modelled by Josephine Skriver below and in our March 2019 issue, available now.

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Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black “monkey hair” evening bodysuit, from the Fall 1998 Couture collection.

2/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Suit jacket in “ragged” black barathea and white crepe over a matching micro skirt, from Spring 1994.

3/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Fully constructed suit in purple barathea wool with points and ridges over a pencil skirt, from Fall 1988.

4/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black velvet suit with “couture attitude” and a no-collar tailed jacket encrusted with ivory satin over a bulb skirt, from the Fall 1997 Couture collection.

5/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

“Zebra” and vanilla horsehair coat, from Fall 1995.

6/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

“Zebra” and vanilla horsehair coat, from Fall 1995.

7/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black “monkey hair” evening bodysuit, from the Fall 1998 Couture collection.

8/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black barathea jacket with a bustle over a bustier embroidered with jet, rubies and emeralds and black velvet panties, from Fall 1996.

9/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black crepe bulb dress with a white crepe draped scoop neck and cuff, from Spring 1996.

10/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Sculpted black leather carapace vest and hip piece over an appliquéd black organza dragonfly skirt, from the Spring 1997 Couture collection.

11/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black “monkey hair” evening bodysuit, from the Fall 1998 Couture collection.

The post An Exclusive Interview with Fashion’s OG Bad Boy, the Mysterious Manfred Thierry Mugler appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

An Exclusive Interview with Fashion’s OG Bad Boy, the Mysterious Manfred Thierry Mugler published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

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lindyhunt · 5 years

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An Exclusive Look Into the Archives of One of Fashion’s Most Mysterious Characters, Manfred Thierry Mugler

“The physical mutation was a sort of return to myself—a repairing and reconstruction, too.”

“He has always been an outlier whose work is provocative and unapologetically designed for women who own their sexuality and power.”

“It was a time when women were inventing themselves in unprecedented roles, and a big part of that was their appearance and trying to find a new way to be in the world.”

“When I look at his pieces, it’s really clear to me that the intent wasn’t at all about misogyny but, rather, empowerment. His designs were progressive, and his vision was remarkable.”

“I didn’t have a problem with my sexuality or identity. I had a problem with my family, and I had a problem with the world. I was feeling out of place, and I was feeling very miserable.”

See every look we pulled from the Thierry Mugler archives as modelled by Josephine Skriver below and in our March 2019 issue, available now.

1/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black “monkey hair” evening bodysuit, from the Fall 1998 Couture collection.

2/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Suit jacket in “ragged” black barathea and white crepe over a matching micro skirt, from Spring 1994.

3/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Fully constructed suit in purple barathea wool with points and ridges over a pencil skirt, from Fall 1988.

4/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black velvet suit with “couture attitude” and a no-collar tailed jacket encrusted with ivory satin over a bulb skirt, from the Fall 1997 Couture collection.

5/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

“Zebra” and vanilla horsehair coat, from Fall 1995.

6/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

“Zebra” and vanilla horsehair coat, from Fall 1995.

7/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black “monkey hair” evening bodysuit, from the Fall 1998 Couture collection.

8/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black barathea jacket with a bustle over a bustier embroidered with jet, rubies and emeralds and black velvet panties, from Fall 1996.

9/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black crepe bulb dress with a white crepe draped scoop neck and cuff, from Spring 1996.

10/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Sculpted black leather carapace vest and hip piece over an appliquéd black organza dragonfly skirt, from the Spring 1997 Couture collection.

11/11

Josephine Skriver wears looks from the Thierry Mugler archives ahead of the opening of the MMFA’s Thierry Mugler: Couturissime

Black “monkey hair” evening bodysuit, from the Fall 1998 Couture collection.

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beauticate · 6 years

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Fiona Myer, Entrepreneur

It was perfect timing that just as we launched our brand new Interiors section, Melbourne doyenne Fiona Myer was kind enough to open up her beautiful Toorak home to us. She shared how her career began as a model in Paris (it’s not always glamorous, but it makes for a great story) and the path that has led her to her current cherished roles as founder and creative director of White Story, and long-time patron of the Victorian art scene. And yes, she tells us all about her go-to beauty products she uses to create her favoured “less is more” look, and some affordable ways to bring the outside into your own home.

“I found myself in Paris at 21 after being head hunted to join the Glamour agency.

From there I travelled to some obscure parts of the world and have some amazing memories. Fashion shows on jumbo jets. Work in Beirut the day before war broke out. Barbados shooting swimwear, when the boat ran out of fuel while I was water skiing. I landed in a coral reef filled with sea urchin tentacles, and they took me off the shoot while I had each tentacle burned out over many days. There were hoax appointments, getting locked in cage lifts, a skiing shoot when the gondola closed due to high wind (the ski patrol was closed too, so we were left swaying recklessly well into the night). On that occasion I was lucky, because the shoot was for Courrèges and I was laden with fur coats. My clients included Yves Saint Laurent, Revillon, Sprung Frères... life was never dull.

After a good stint in Paris I came home to Australia, ready for a more grounded career.

Deciding to take a huge pay cut from modelling, I started work at the Georges Department Store in the promotions department. Outside of my life in Paris, Georges was my exposure to the world of couture. It was intoxicating working with the likes of Dior, Fendi, Lanvin, Givenchy and Celine. I was then headhunted down to Myer in Bourke Street to work as a fashion forecaster. After running a number of small businesses including luxury homewares from Myanmar and a collection of furniture, sleep wear and accessories, I have now taken on my biggest challenge of all: White Story.

It’s no surprise that retailing is a tough business, especially now.

We employ a vibrant, young team – I have emphasised employing people under 30. With my kids living away, it is the young team at White Story that get me out of bed in the morning. I feel needed and have a purpose. Without them realising it, they are keeping me young while teaching me the way of Gen Y.

It’s my hope that in my small way, White Story can provide a platform for young people to move seamlessly from student life, to their first internship and subsequently their first job.

My approach to beauty is simply less is more.

You would think after all those years of modelling I would apply makeup generously, but no - perhaps it was because I had it put on for me for all those years by professionals. One thing is for sure: the older you get, the less time you want to spend applying makeup.

My daily routine always starts with washing my face in cold water and drinking a glass of warm water. I head off for a swim, then shower with Alpha Keri oil and moisturise with Actinica SPF 50+ lotion. Then I apply La Mer foundation, a light brush of bronzer, Trish McEvoy mascara and I’m out the door.

My go-to shop for cosmetics has to be Mecca.

Jo Horgan and her team have nailed it. It’s easy, it’s accessible and it has every brand and product I could possibly want, including my favourite Diptyque oversized candles. My favourite perfume is a toss up depending on my mood, though I like Laurent Mazzone Parfums O Des Soupirs or Diptyque Oyédo. I think Kiehl’s makes the ultimate hand cream, and in terms of treatments I always have Clarins Gentle Peeling Smooth Away Cream to hand. Then there is good old Dermaveen Soap Free Wash which I use as a makeup remover and finally BAKEL makeup remover for eyes (Ed. note: not currently available in Australia). What else is in my kit? By Terry’s Hyaluronic Hydra Primer, Trish McEvoy blush, NARS Orgasm blush, Trish McEvoy highlighter, and the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil.

My personal style is pared-back, clean and uncluttered – the way I would like to think my mind is!

My wardrobe is quite androgynous. Weekend wear is Givenchy menswear shirts and hipster jeans. Unwashed hair with little or no make up. After all, we spend our weekends at our farm and usually see no one. When it comes to dressing up, I’m in maxi evening pinafore dresses, either with a crisp white shirt or combining black organza and velvet. For the most part my go-to designers are young and unknown Japanese designers. When I’m committed to shopping I’m heading straight to Comme des Garçons, The Row, Victoria Beckham and Celine.

As I head towards 60 next November, I feel so blessed to have an incredibly supportive husband who keeps me sane.

We relax together. Week nights are bliss at home on our own. We light the fire in winter in my study, set the table at my old French leather desk, open up a full bodied red and say ahhhh - we talk for hours. Everything gets covered off in a full night: kids, holidays, White Story, the farm; there’s never nothing to talk about. It’s truthfully my favourite thing to do. My husband is after all my best friend. My other best friends are all living away – my children! The three of them are working either interstate or overseas, and I feel fortunate that they are all pursuing exciting opportunities and making own futures.

I used to meditate religiously and I must get back into it. I’ve had a couple of months off and it shows. I’m so much calmer and more focused when I meditate.

I have always loved exercise. I swim daily come winter or summer – it is non-negotiable.

I walk to work and often meet a friend for brekky along the way. I am definitely not a gym junkie and gave Pilates away years ago. I need to be outdoors.

I usually cook fish at home (normally salmon) with my own marinade of ginger, garlic, Tamari sesame oil, and maple syrup. I serve it with masses of wok veggies and my sweet potato purée, with added fresh ginger and a dash of sesame oil.

I’m lucky to have some wonderful health practitioners that help me through life.

I regularly have acupuncture and see a wonderful chiropractor. I have a weekly NET session with my kinesiologist to clear everything out. I just don’t have time to let small things get in my way. I also visit a bio-energiticist to keep me in check. Most GPs don’t get alternative healers. I find that my team sees the stuff doctors don’t find until you really have a problem.

I have been collecting art over 30 years, and for almost 20 years have supported the Victorian College of the Arts and Victoria University with scholarships, travel grants and awards for the students.

VU generously awarded me an honorary doctorate in recognition of this. Our family’s works are a mixture from emerging artists from VCA and VU, as well as locally and internationally recognised artists, sculptors and ceramicists. These include Polly Bolland, John Young, Peter Demetrius, Frog King, Robert Hunter, Philip Hunter, Chiharu Shiota, Yayoi Kusama, and Dale Frank to name a few. I also try and visit Hong Kong Art Basel annually.

We host a Dom Pérignon event each year, and I think this will be our fifth year.

It all happened many years ago when the wonderful Deeta Colvin approached me. I love designing and visual merchandising and find large events like this so much fun to create. Each year I think up a theme, and we might feature anything from race horses at the party to models weaving through the crowds in our latest collection. I invite family and friends, business associates, people from the fashion industry, artists, politicians - the lot. It makes for an eclectic party and each person invited is a loyal Dom Pérignon drinker.

Time not always being my best friend means inevitable last minute decisions – me running around right up until it starts is not unusual. Don’t laugh, but because the table arrangements are important to me I usually have the tables set days before so I can add and subtract until I feel happy. It’s a bit like sculpting my pots, you just don’t quite know what you’re going to get until it’s finished. Though mistakes are usually my best works.

Our house really comes to life when it is filled with plants and flowers.

I like to bring inside whatever is in season. Although my life mantra is “less is more”, when it comes to floral arrangements and interiors in general I believe bountiful and generous is the way to go. For instance, I use masses of lilies (up to ten bunches) in one glass vessel. Whatever I use, I use in bulk. Whether it be burnt oak leaves or fruit, I stick to one variety and have multiples, which I find harmonious and peaceful. It’s less complicated and definitely no fuss.

They say “build a house, make a home”, and in my experience it takes years to truly make a home.

There are transitional periods in life (and in the state of your home) such as when or if you decide to have a family. As my family knows, a favourite line of mine is, “it’s a journey not a destination” - so even though now it’s just my husband and I here, I’m still making a home and I’m definitely still making a life. I want to bring on the next chapter with vigour and strength, and most of all, with love.”

Story by Zoe Briggs. Photography by Neiyo.

#Fiona Myer #white story

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titoslondon-blog · 6 years

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New Post has been published on Titos London

#Blog New Post has been published on http://www.titoslondon.co.uk/mugler-returns-a-first-look-at-casey-cadwalladers-debut-collection/

Mugler returns: A first look at Casey Cadwallader’s debut collection

On the northwestern outskirts of Barcelona, the head office of architect Ricardo Bofill rises up from a garden of olive and cypress trees like the Tower of Babel. Carved out of the shell of a disused cement factory La Fábrica, as it is known, is a place where Escher-like staircases lead to nowhere, colossal oxidised metal beams soar between béton brut walls and rooftops are coated in lush green lawns.

Here, on a balmy Sunday in April, Vogue came to meet Mugler’s new artistic director, Casey Cadwallader. Though he may not be a familiar name, there’s a good chance you have worn his designs. Until now, the American designer has worked largely behind the scenes at TSE, Loewe and J. Mendel, before becoming design director for women’s ready-to-wear and accessories at Narciso Rodriguez, and then design director of Acne Studios’ pre-collections. Cadwallader’s aptitude for, as he puts it, “translating yourself through the lens of the brand” will be an invaluable asset to Mugler, which has lost some of its momentum in recent years.

Established in 1974 by Thierry Mugler, the French fashion house pioneered the aggressively sexy, angular hourglass silhouette—achieved through padding a woman’s every curve and cinching in her waist—which became synonymous with the 1980s and early 1990s. Mugler was the man behind the iconic little black dress Demi Moore wore in Indecent Proposal, Diana Ross and daughter Tracee Ellis walked in his shows, and in 1992, he was director and costume designer for the era-defining music video for George Michael’s hit “Too Funky”, starring the likes of Linda Evangelista, Eva Herzigova and Tyra Banks. His creations transformed women into ice queens, superheroes and even motorbikes—creations famously reincarnated in 2009 when Mugler acted as creative adviser and costume designer to Beyoncé’s “I Am…” world tour. (The outfits go on display in February for the Thierry Mugler: Creatures of Haute Couture exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.)

Despite its success and enormous influence, Clarins—which has owned the Mugler name since 1997—was forced to close the house in 2003 due to substantial losses, but the ready-to-wear line was revived seven years later under Nicola Formichetti, who built a lot of buzz around the brand thanks to his frequent collaborations with Lady Gaga. His successor, David Koma, created beautifully cut designs favoured by the likes of Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, but the brand was far from regaining the stature of its heyday. Probably should note it was revived with RTW only.

We spent two days with Cadwallader as he shot his debut collection on a diverse cast of women. By bringing together the likes of literature graduate Jess Cole, who enviably landed an exclusive with Céline in her first season; hip-hop star 070 Shake; French Olympic swimmer Anna Santamans; actress Anna Brewster; and original Mugler muses Amy Wesson and Debra Shaw, he wants to “start a conversation around what powerful modern femininity means.” The photographs, taken by Arnaud Lajeunie, will be previewed in a private penthouse in Tribeca, New York on Wednesday, where guests will see the designs firsthand.

“This project is really about bringing variety to Mugler. Recently, [the brand] was only about evening wear, it didn’t really do more than dress elegant women, models and beautiful actresses for the red carpet,” the 38-year-old explains as he adjusts the collar of a black leather biker jacket on Cole. With its oversized belt buckle and broad shoulders, the references to the original Mugler are there, only softer and more supple—the armholes dropped to the top of the arm rather than jutting out at an angle, and the material itself only lightly buffed, not lacquered to the point of being fetishistic.

Later in the day, Cole changes into a trench coat made in collaboration with the artist Samara Scott. A zany concoction of ingredients are trapped between the two layers of clear vinyl from which the garment is cut, ranging from hair gel to curry powder and toothpaste. When opened up and held against the sun, it is a thing of ethereal beauty that resembles a basking butterfly—a subconscious nod to Mugler’s spring 1997 couture collection.

There’s a similarity between the way Paris-based Cadwallader, who hails from New Hampshire and holds a degree in architecture from Cornell University, is approaching Mugler and the way Bofill converted the cement factory—demolishing part of its structure to reveal concealed forms. Rather than tearing up the original Mugler manifesto, Cadwallader is “blowing down the walls of the brand” to extend its design vocabulary for the 21st century woman. “When I looked back at Mr Mugler’s archive, he made sportswear, swimsuits, he turned women into creatures, he had dancers, performance artists and musicians at his shows—there was this movement around him,” Cadwallader enthuses. “For me, women’s empowerment then was about having big shoulders to stand up to men in the workplace and also to attract their eye. [Whereas today] women still dress for power but for themselves. That is the big difference—not to be accepted by men but to be true to yourself and feel the power of self confidence, and choose your own destiny.”

The following day at a Bofill-designed summer house, Cadwallader’s attention to structure and form comes to the fore. Shaw, a long time Mugler muse, is electrifyingly elegant standing at the side of the red-tiled pool in a knitted dress and a Marco Panconesi for Mugler ear cuff that spouts white crystals like firework sparks. Meanwhile, 070 Shake is changing into a denim two-piece that teases the mind with its painstakingly assembled spiral seams, which seem to have no beginning or end. Perhaps one of the most literally referenced pieces in his collection (available at Net-a-Porter, Bergdorf Goodman and the Mugler store in Paris from August) is a fully canvassed jacket based on a men’s design from the Mugler archive, which comes in teal and black. The cut has been adapted to better suit a woman’s body, with laces so “any woman any size can adjust the strings and define their waist”, explains Cadwallader.

The designs aren’t short of ingenuity or craftsmanship, and although Cadwallader views this first body of work as an “experiment”—having only had seven weeks to design it following his December appointment—the 30-style collection is a coherent celebration of individuality. Going forward, the plan is to show the collections on schedule, but rather than pouring money into a runway show, Cadwallader intends to continue doing special events or presentations.

But how does it feel to wear Cadwallader’s Mugler compared to Thierry Mugler’s? Who better to ask than the women who have inspired both designers? “A Mugler suit made you appear strong even if you weren’t. It’s a special human power—you put on the suit and it gives you strength,” Shaw tells me over dinner that night. She pulls out her phone and shows me a photo of her and Amy Wesson modelling side-by-side in the Thierry Mugler Autumn/Winter 1998 couture show. This shoot, she believes, is the first time they have been reunited since that day. “Casey has really captured that spirit,” she continues. “To do that and still be in your own creative space is genius. You feel a bit of the old Mugler but it’s an advancement of today. It’s a perfect example of how [Thierry] would evolve with the times.”

1/20 Hip hop star 070 Shake, who signed to GOOD Music (Kanye West's Def Jam imprint) last year

Image: Christopher McCrory

Actor Anna Brewster

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Mugler’s Artistic Director Casey Cadwallader dressing British model Jess Cole

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Japanese model Ami Suzuki

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Swiss model Vivienne Rohner

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Japanese model Ami Suzuki

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Casey Cadwallader and long time Mugler muse Debra Shaw

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Marco Panconesi for Mugler ear cuff

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British model Jess Cole

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Hip hop star 070 Shake

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French Olympic swimmer Anna Santamans

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Original Mugler muse Amy Wesson

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Actor Anna Brewster

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Artist Samara Scott

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Mugler’s Artistic Director Casey Cadwallader

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Long time Mugler muse Debra Shaw circumvents Ricardo Bofill’s red-tiled pool

Image: Christopher McCrory

French Olympic swimmer Anna Santamans

Image: Christopher McCrory

The Ricardo Bofill-designed summer house with red-tiled pool

Image: Christopher McCrory

Ricardo Bofill’s La Fábrica

Image: Christopher McCrory

Ricardo Bofill’s La Fábrica

Image: Christopher McCrory

The post Mugler returns: A first look at Casey Cadwallader’s debut collection appeared first on VOGUE India.

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