Thierry Mugler Disrupts

A few words that come to mind when we hear the name Thierry Mugler:  Unconventional. Bold. Disruptive.

Mugler has been blazing his own trail through the fashion world since the mid-1970s, and he literally defined the new silhouette for women in the 1980s (wide-shouldered, wasp-waisted, body conscious).

His shows have always been the stuff of legend, breaking boundaries not only in the arenas of budget and spectacle, but also in casting. In 1992 at an AIDS charity event, porn stars Jeff Stryker and Traci Lords walked his runway right alongside the biggest supermodels and celebrities of the day.

Perhaps his most memorable show happened in 1995 – a haute couture extravaganza to celebrate his brand’s 20th anniversary. Staged at the Cirque d’Hiver in Paris, the hour-long, 300-look show featured everyone from Jerry Hall (his longtime muse) to Julie Andrews to fashion royalty like Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. Socialite Patti Hearst even did a striptease! It was a homage to fashion through the ages, showcasing everything from masterfully cut suits and evening gowns to futuristic robotic bodysuits. The show culminated with a performance by none other than James Brown, and one of the show’s models, Violeta Sanchez, dubbed the event “the Woodstock of fashion.”

The House of Thierry Mugler was born in 1973 and began to rise with the birth of the supermodel era, with key players like Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista strutting the runway and being photographed in his designs. The house was closed in 2003 following significant losses, but was rebooted under the creative direction of Nicola Formichetti in 2010. Since then, Mugler’s designs have been popping up throughout pop culture: Lady Gaga’s black and white ensemble in her “Telephone” video, Beyonce’s costumes for her “I Am…” world tour, and most recently on Cardi B at the 2019 Grammy Awards (she wore a piece from his 1995-96 couture collection).

Interestingly enough, after all of his outrageous shows and events through the years, Mugler’s work has never been given any kind of comprehensive exhibition. Luckily for us, that all changed with the March 2nd debut of “Thierry Mugler: Couturissime” at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA). An examination of his visions for “metamorphoses, superheroines, and cyborgs,” the exhibition features around 150 ensembles made between 1977 and 2014. Also featured are accessories, costumes, photography, video, and archival sketches.

Mugler, who now goes by Manfred, his real name, explained the lack of retrospective through the years: “People have offered to exhibit my work a number of times, but the idea of simply looking back has never interested me. There is no future without a past, so I hope that this exhibition will inspire in its visitors a new creative future.”

“Couturissime” is conceived as an opera divided into six “acts.” It opens dramatically with Mugler’s costume work for the Comedie-Francaise’s 1985 adaptation of “La tragedie de Macbeth,” a smart curatorial move (one would probably expect to walk right into Mugler’s powerful woman cliché). This gallery flows seamlessly into the next, which examines Mugler’s ability to transform fashion into spectacle, and also showcases his pure star power. Photos of Madonna, David Bowie, Cardi B, and Lady Gaga wearing his creations grace the walls, and George Michael’s “Too Funky” plays on loop (Mugler did the costumes for the music video).

The next gallery is dedicated to Mugler’s collaboration with photographer Helmut Newton, which produced photos that amplify the already otherworldly feel of Mugler’s fashions. “Act IV” introduces his glamazons. The famous Muglerian bulging shoulders and tiny waists are on full display here (it probably wouldn’t be a Mugler exhibition without it), with unconventional materials like latex and PVC serving as a recurring theme to add a dash of dominatrix. “Act V” explores Mugler’s work with insects and animals, and it’s this gallery that showcases some of Mugler’s truly best work, albeit wholly unwearable. The final act focuses, fittingly, on Mugler’s fascination with clothing of the future. His famous 1995 metal and PVC “Maschinenmensch” outfit, which the exhibit (and most of the fashion world) calls his masterpiece, is displayed here.

If you love fashion and you’re able to get to Montreal, go see “Couturissime” yesterday. Never before has Thierry Mugler’s rebellious vision been put on display so comprehensively. It’s refreshing to see the work of a fashion designer who has a true artistic voice, embraces the fantastical, and isn’t necessarily bound by the limits of wearability.