Fashion Loses Another Legend: RIP Manfred Thierry Mugler
The world of Haute Couture is one of whimsy and mystery. Many great designers have presented their collections throughout the decades—but very few have presented with such innovation and impactfulness as Manfred Thierry Mugler. The fashion industry suffers an immeasurable loss as Mugler’s personal Instagram account announced on Sunday, January 23rd that the great designer has passed at the age of 73.
Source: Document Journal
Thierry Mugler photographed by Helmut Newton, Paris, 1996.
In a statement, the House of Mugler Instagram account described the designer as a “visionary whose imagination as a couturier, perfumer and image-maker empowered people around the world to be bolder and dream bigger every day.” But, understanding the impact that Mugler had on the fashion industry is a colossal feat. The list of designers he has inspired is full of names that we associate with equal grandeur, such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen. His presence can still be felt in Paris today at the couture ateliers and runways of an entirely new generation.
Manfred Thierry Mugler was born in Strasbourg, France, and in his early years of life, his passions led him to focus more on drawing than on school. By the age of 14, he had joined the ballet corps for the Rhin Opera and was starting formal interior design training at the Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts.
In 1971, during his early 20’s, Mugler began designing clothes for Karim, a French clothing brand at the time, already showing the broad-shouldered, 1940s-derived looks he would inevitably become famous for, and by 1973 Mugler had created his first personal collection called "Café de Paris.” The collection was widely received as a success, causing a snowball effect in his career.
In 1978, he opened his first Paris boutique at the Place des Victoires and rapidly gained attention among the most extreme of the Fall 1978 brigade of designers, with a penchant for mid-20th-century sci-fi themes and exaggerated 1940s-50s-style glamour marked by sharply constructed tailoring. This was only the beginning of Mugler’s long and successful career.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Mugler became an internationally recognized designer, often grouped with Claude Montana and Azzedine Alaïa, but known specifically for his shapely suits. Over the span of two decades, Mugler gave the fashion industry so much glamor, camp, and fantasy, that his work can still be used as a reference for modern-day design. The list of iconic designs he envisioned and developed is truly extensive.
Midwestern influence for Spring 1992 RTW, businesswoman meets dominatrix at the Fall 1995 couture show, nature as a source of inspiration during Spring 1997 couture, are just some examples of his great work. During the peak of his career, Mugler worked with stars like David Bowie, George Michael, and Diana Ross, which would only be the beginning of his mega-roster of collaborations.
“I made clothes because I was looking for something that didn’t exist. I had to try to create my own world.”
Source: Vogue Runway
Pictures from Manfred Thierry Mugler Spring 1992 Ready-to-Wear, Fall 1995 couture, and Spring 1998 couture from the Conde Nast archive.
Apart from creating designs that seemed to come from another world, Mugler was a pioneer in the industry for his take on inclusivity, a concept that many designers are still currently trying to grasp.
Mugler was the first of his status to include women of all shapes and sizes in his shows, stating “I want my models to be bigger, stronger, and taller than common mortals […] the potential of your body is endless.” He was the first at his level of Haute Couture that included not only transgender models in his shows, but transgender models of color, like Connie Girl, who’s red crystal-embellished cowboy get-up from the Spring 1992 collection can still be found on designers’ inspiration boards. Inclusion of these models was practically unheard of and considered taboo in 90’s Paris. So, for a highly regarded designer to put on shows highlighting such underrepresented models sent a huge message to the fashion world.
After two decades of wonder, Mugler decided to ‘retire’ from fashion in 2002, having sold the rights to his name to Clarins in 1997 following the release of his widely successful perfume, Angel. But ‘retired’ is a strong word, and no creative genius can stay still for too long. "The reason I quit fashion was that I had had enough of spending time always being on my knees, making other people look amazing and fabulous,” says the designer, “I used fashion to express myself as much as I could. But at some point it was not enough.”
In the early 2000’s, Mugler remained busy by creating one-off pieces for an up-and-coming Lady Gaga, and in 2009 was hired by Beyoncé to creative direct the entirety of her I Am Sasha Fierce era, dressing the star in archival Mugler looks and ultimately designing the costumes for her tour. His relationship with these artists would continue for years.
Source: Beyonce.com
Beyonce pays tribute to Manfred Thierry Mugler, who was creative director of her I Am Sasha Fierce era and continued to work with her up until recent years.
In 2010, the brand was revived as simply Mugler, and the house has seen a myriad of both talented and fearless designers such as Nicola Formichetti, and most recently, Casey Cadwallader, at its helm. In recent years, with an increased interest in archival fashion, Mugler has once again become a household name, at least for a generation of fashion lovers not already familiar with his work, most notably, Kim Kardashian-West.
The internet’s First Lady first wore the designer for the Hollywood Beauty Awards in February of 2019, thanking him personally on Instagram and instantly catching his attention. From there, KKW accompanied the designer as his newest muse to two of his exhibit openings while wearing his archival designs, further solidifying their fashion friendship. All of this led up to one of the biggest fashion moments of 2019.
In May of that same year, Manfred Thierry Mugler came out of retirement to design not one but two custom looks for Kardashian-West to attend the 2019 Met Gala. Mugler had managed to remain relevant for almost 20 years after his retirement solely off of archived looks that he would lend out occasionally, but for the designer to create something completely new for KKW was monumental for his career, and Kardashian-West’s fashion credibility as well.
Source: Harpers Bazaar
Kim Kardashian-West wears two new custom looks by Manfred Thierry Mugler to the 2019 Met Gala and the afterparty at Up & Down in New York City.
Since then, Mugler continued to work with women in the industry that exude strength and sex appeal, like rapper Cardi B, until the time of his death. What Mugler leaves behind is a legacy of fashion that will go down in history books for decades to come.
The way he made women feel when they wore his clothes is indescribable by some. The lives and careers that he inspired will continue to live out his legacy ubiquitously. The people that he gave a voice to when the world was trying to silence them are forever in his debt, championed by one of the champions. There is no doubt that the void that Manfred Thierry Mugler leaves in the fashion industry is of colossal proportions, but we can find solace in the fact that he can be found anywhere, in any given design, at any moment.
May he rest forever in glamor.
