Thierry Mugler: An Architect of Extreme Glamour and Serious Strength
“In my work I’ve always tried to make people look stronger than they really are.”
Bigger than Big
Thierry Mugler is an eternal staple at the intersection of fashion, beauty and design. Emerging as a major player in the fashion scene of the 1980s and 1990s, he became quite popular for his larger than life concepts, and maintained a high level of respect among luminaries in style and pop culture for decades to come.
In an article published by The New York Times, Vanessa Friedman pulls a quote from Montreal Museum of Arts curator, Thierry-Maxime Loriot, who described Mugler as a “pioneer when it came to women’s empowerment and diversity, starting in the 1970s.” (The New York Times, 2022) She later goes on herself to describe his followup work as “kitsch razzle-dazzle,” suggesting that what he produced after the sale of his brand to Clarins in 1997 was a bit off compared to what people had come to know and love of him.
Still, the Mugler-impact was undeniable, as we would certainly live to see well into the decades to come. Since the late 2000s, Mugler’s work has been introduced to generations of young people, especially through such cultural influencers as Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Cardi B.
“In my work I’ve always tried to make people look stronger than they really are.” – Thierry Mugler
His commitment to presenting the female as powerful and self-determined is one that has resonated with many, and has certainly helped to keep the name “Mugler” alive and on fire.
A Relentless Pioneer
There are many notable takeaways from the overview of his career, as referenced in the New York Times. For one, there’s the embrace of faux fur and printed leather well before the fashion world adhered to a campaign of minimising animal cruelty for the sake of style. Another example of Mugler’s pioneerism is the experimentation with exposing the rear end of the model – this is something Vanessa notes Mugler did before McQueen “introduced the bumster.” In another lens of channelling his inner pioneer, Thierry cast drag queens in his shows, right alongside the most respected and prominent female models who also walked in his runway shows.
The list of acts that made Mugler a pioneer in the worlds of fashion, art and style go on. He was one of the select designers featured in famed photographer of the 1980s, Lucille Khornak’s first book, Fashion 2001.
Challenger of the Impossible
One of the biggest things people admire about Thierry Mugler and his work was his commitment to the curious and the unexpected. One of his most iconic pieces, a dress called “La Chimère,” reportedly took “thousands of hours to create,” featuring “a rainbow of exactingly beaded scales that form the iridescent carapace of a mythic creature.” It presented such complications for the advent of getting it on the body that it is said to have always travelled on a mannequin. Attempting to walk down the runway apparently proved to be an even greater source of difficulty in fashion.
“Though the idea of trading freedom for effect may seem the literal antithesis of empowerment, that imagery helped clear a path in the collective imagination.” (The New York Times, 2022)
At 69 years old, Karen Bass started a new chapter in her life, and the life of the city of Los Angeles, as she assumes the role of the city’s 43rd chief executive. Not only has she made history as the first woman to become mayor in Los Angeles, she is also the second Black person to have ever been elected to this office. In our review of this remarkable feat, we took some time to reflect on a few universal core competencies that Mayor Bass has displayed throughout her career, and that are of high visibility and significance today.