Thierry Mugler's 5 most revolutionary fashion shows

Last night Manfred Thierry Mugler passed away at 74. Much more than a name on a perfume bottle, the enfant terrible was one of the most significant stylists in fashion history who for more than three decades celebrated the female body with a structured, instantly recognizable silhouette: very narrow waist, broad shoulders, accentuated hips. Extravagant, sexy and irreverent: from her first Café de Paris clothing line in 1973, her clothes have guided women towards emancipation through the affirmation of an armored, robotic, animal, disruptive body, undeniably resistant to any social convention. "I have ideas, clichés, barriers," said Thierry Mugler - "It's irresistible, the war on cliché". The designer marked a clear turning point in the fashion of the 80s-90s by drawing inspiration from the most disparate elements: American cars of the seventies, film noir, the world of insects, combined with a deep passion for corsets, made in collaboration with Jean-Jacques Urcun, and the use of unconventional materials for the time (rubber, chrome, resin and plexiglass). Yet, after two decades of success, over the years, he was perhaps the first designer whose success increased in a reduced way to his personal desire to disappear. After the failure of the eponymous brand, the designer disappeared from the radar and then reappeared four years later as a completely transformed person, barely recognizable for the numerous plastic surgeries and a jump to the registry office to change his first name from Thierry a Manfred. Tired of the increasingly frenetic life of the fashion industry, he has turned his attention to the creation of costume-made shows and dresses, such as the one worn by Kim Kardashian at the 2019 Met Gala. Yet, despite her attempts to be forgotten, her creations continued to speak and inspire designers who openly claim her influence, as well as numerous pop stars including Lady Gaga, Beyoncé and Cardi B, who still wear her dresses today. Here is a list of the 5 fashion shows that have irreversibly marked fashion.

Ready-to-wear AW 1984-1985: tenth anniversary

In March 1984, to celebrate the maison's tenth anniversary, Mugler organized the first fashion show open to the (paying) public in the West, at the Zénith, a concert hall in the Villette district of Paris. In a manifest representation from the 1980s, fashion has joined the world of theater and music more than ever in this colorful production, which attracted more than 6,000 spectators. On the catwalk, 350 dresses paraded in front of the public, the most iconic moment was the descent from the skies of Pat Cleveland as a sparkling Madonna descended from the skies, pregnant and surrounded by cherubs with golden wings.

Ready-to-wear SS 1992-1993: cowboys from the future

In this collection inspired by the riders of the Far West revisited as an army of motorcyclists all dressed in leather, with a corset biker jacket and boots with fringes high up to the waist, Thierry Mugler explored a material that until then had not been used much in the luxury prêt-à-porter: rubber. The most memorable piece of the collection remains the "Harley Davidson" bustier complete with handlebars and rear-view mirrors, a nod to the previous 1989 "body bustier" worn by Naomi Campbell in 1989, for the Buick winter collection inspired by 1950s American cars, which went down in history thanks to the music video "Too Funky" by George Michael made by Mugler himself with the images of his fashion show. While the 1992 biker corset was the hit of 2008's "Superheroes" show at the Costume Institute, which inspired Beyoncé to seek it out to create the wardrobe for her concert tour.

Haute couture AW 1995-1996: the peak

Thierry Mugler celebrated the brand's 20 years at Cirque d'Hiver by revisiting the most impactful figures of all his collections: cyborgs and chrome dresses, resulting from an intense collaboration with Jean-Jacques Urcun on a female android - the first design with made with Delcros for the Superstar Diana Ross collection from 1991. Starting with a metal bra, the outfit gradually became a whole made of metal and plexiglass. Another memorable piece in this collection was the famous sheath dress / clamshell dress we recently saw sported by Cardi B at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Inspired by Italian Renaissance artist Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus", model Simonetta Gianfelici has literally blossomed her shell in this majestic gown, adorned with pearls and hidden in a pink satin gown shell.

Haute couture SS 1997: the insect woman

In the Les Insectes collection, women have merged with insects, with very dark glasses to give the fly effect and the kaledoscopic wings of a butterfly in sparkling colors. Already sported at the time by Jerry Hall, then worn by Beyoncé, JLO and more recently Irina Shayk, the iconic butterfly dress was also mentioned by Nicola Formichetti and Sébastien Peigné in FW 12. Another notable piece was the jumpsuit " pneumatic ”made of rubber and leather thanks to the designer Abel Villareal, yet another union of women and cars.

Haute couture AW 1997-1998: the chimeras

Continuing from the previous collection, Les Chimères has transformed insect-women into fantastic creatures, which inhabit the designer's dreams. Thierry Mugler has translated this imaginary distant land, with an eye to the East and its aesthetics. Thus, we find pieces with influences from Russia and East Asia. The absolute highlight of the show was the Chimera dress in which model Adriana Karembeu became a hybrid creature, a winged mermaid in all colors of the rainbow. Designed by Jean-Jacques Urcun and the corset manufacturer Mr Pearl, an exceptional dress, which took two years to make: each scale of the reptilian armor was hand painted. It is considered to be one of the most expensive dresses in the history of fashion.