French Designer Thierry Mugler Is Dead at 73

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French fashion designer Manfred Thierry Mugler has died, according to a statement posted on his Instagram account on Sunday evening. “May his soul Rest In Peace,” the statement read. Mugler was 73.

No cause of death was immediately announced.

Over his decades-long career, Mugler dressed a galaxy of stars—from legendary luminaries like David Bowie, George Michael, and Cindy Crawford to more modern giants like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and Rihanna.

The designer was also an icon in his own right. Born in 1948 as Thierry Mugler, he started out as a ballet dancer in Paris and never lost the sense of ephemerality that performing gave him.

“You can be vomiting, you can detest who you are, detest the world, detest every single thing, and the next moment you are in the light and you glow,” he told Elle in 2017. “You forget everything, and you are just flying. When you’re onstage, you are someone else.”

Mugler launched his label in 1974 and had ascended to the height of glamour by 1992. “My clothes are sexy and avant-garde and as I wrote and said in Robert Altman’s Prêt a Porter, ‘It’s all about getting a great fuck, darling,’” he told Vice in 2010.

Gifted with an innate theatrical flourish, Mugler’s style was equal parts audacious and sexy. Archival pieces from his wild ’80s and ’90s runway shows achieved a timeless quality. One vintage 1995 dress was resurrected by Cardi B for an appearance at the 2019 Grammy Awards.

“From the moment I saw it, I knew it was going to be a debatable moment, some people would love it and some people would hate it and that’s everything we’re about when it comes to fashion,” the rapper’s stylist told WWD after the awards ceremony. “It’s meant to create a conversation.”

With his unique blend of the flamboyant and the fetishistic, Mugler was known for incendiary shapes that transformed his models into machines, affixing them with robotic limbs or bustiers with motorcycle handles protruding from them. He dreamed up more than one iconic look, including Demi Moore’s little black dress in Indecent Proposal and the entirety of a Cirque du Soleil show, “Zumanity,” a bombastic, animalistic cabaret.

He was inspired by the likes of Grace Jones as he was starting out and later served as an inspiration, shaping Alexander McQueen’s bad-boy looks and much of Gaga’s Born This Way era.

But as a trailblazer—one of the first to inject spectacle and sex into his shows—Mugler was also notoriously difficult to work with. George Michael, whose “Too Funky” music video Mugler costumed in 1992, chafed against the designer’s brash persona and singular vision. One performer told Vogue that the atmosphere on set quickly devolved into one of “hysteria, lots of smoking and raw nerves.”

In 2003, Mugler’s label was shuttered by parent company Clarins in the wake of huge losses, but the designer took it in stride. He said that, for him, suddenly fashion “wasn’t the right tool anymore” and that he would seek other ways to create, including through perfumery.

Mugler had already created, in 1992, the blockbuster, salty-sweet, bergamot-infused Angel. When the debut eau hit counters, it gave birth to the “gourmand” genre of scents, and it remains one of the best-selling perfumes of all time. He would go on to create the jasmine-scented Alien in 2005 and the powerful, rhubarb-esque Aura in 2017.

Before his public reappearance in 2007, Mugler also reinvented himself as a bodybuilder—and changed his first name to Manfred. The “mountainous” man, as The New York Times called him in 2010, was newly metamorphosed but remained just as “swaggering and naughty” as ever.

The transformation, he told the Times, was a deliberate attempt to shed his former self. “You don’t want to be reminded that you did this or you did that,” he said. “It is disturbing.”

Mugler emerged briefly from his semi-retirement in 2019, however, to dress his good friend Kim Kardashian for the Met Gala. The resulting “wet couture dress” was inspired by Sophia Loren in the 1957 film Boy on a Dolphin.

“He envisioned me as this California girl stepping out of the ocean, wet, dripping,” Kardashian said at the time.

“You can’t take fashion too seriously,” Mugler said in a 2017 interview. “The whole thing is about giving the woman who wears your clothes some power, some fun, some service. It’s great to make it as art. But first, it’s a service for someone.”

Manfred Thierry Mugler, legendary French designer, dies at 73

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French designer Manfred Thierry Mugler, who reigned over the fashion industry in the 1980s, died on Sunday at the age of 73. His agent Jean-Baptiste Rougeot revealed that Mugler passed away because of “natural causes”.

The official Instagram account of Mugler shared an empty black picture on Monday (IST) to announce the news and wrote, “#RIP We are devastated to announce the passing of Mr Manfred Thierry Mugler on Sunday, January 23rd 2022. May his soul Rest In Peace.”

Thierry Mugler was known for his avant-garde fashion. His label became one of the most influential in the 1980s and 1990s. He stepped away from his brand, now owned by L’Oréal, in 2003 but created a quiet stir when he designed Kim Kardashian’s ‘wet dress’ look for the Met Gala in 2019. That same year, rapper Cardi B made heads turn in a vintage Mugler gown to the 2019 Grammy Awards.

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The brand’s current creative director Casey Cadwallader, under whom the Mugler label has experienced a resurgence, took to Instagram to remember the legendary designer and wrote, “Manfred, I am so honored to have known you and to work within your beautiful world. You changed our perception of beauty, of confidence, of representation and self empowerment. Your legacy is something I carry with me in everything I do. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, the designer had been due to announce his new collaborations early this week, his agent Jean-Baptiste Rougeot told AFP.

Mugler, born in Strasbourg in December 1948, had arrived in Paris at the age of 20 and created his own label Cafe de Paris in 1973, a year before founding Thierry Mugler. He also published his first photography book in 1988, titled Thierry Mugler: Photographer.

In 1998, the designer published Fashion Fetish Fantasy, a collection of photos of his creations. His early muses included Grace Jones and Joey Arias, and he had a longstanding creative collaboration with David Bowie.

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Iconic Fashion Designer Manfred Thierry Mugler Has Passed Away Age 73

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Source: Getty

Taking to social media, representatives of Mugler posted a black image with a touching caption to announce the news.

“We are devastated to announce the passing of Mr Manfred Thierry Mugler on Sunday January 23rd 2022. May his soul Rest In Peace,” the post read.

Source: Getty

Mugler’s Creative Director Casey Cadwallader shared a touching tribute for the late designer on his Instagram page.

“Manfred, I am so honored to have known you and to work within your beautiful world. You changed our perception of beauty, of confidence, of representation and self empowerment. Your legacy is something I carry with me in everything I do. Thank you.”

Best known for the eponymous fashion house he founded in the 70s, Mugler’s penchant for avant garde designs and hyperfemine suiting has left a lasting legacy on the industry.

Despite retiring from fashion in 2003, he made a one-off triumphant return to design the iconic ‘wet look’ dress worn by Kim Kardashian West at the Met Gala in 2019.

Source: Getty

In recent years, vintage Mugler pieces have become a fan favourite of the celebrity style set including rapper Cardi B who wore his archival ‘Venus’ gown from the brands A/W 1995-1996 couture collection.

Many of his admirers and colleagues, including Irina Shayk, Bella Hadid and Georgia May Jagger, have also commented on his passing by sharing their own tributes to the late icon.

As a pioneer of couture, his flamboyant creations and sexy silhouettes put him at the forefront of his contemporaries.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends at the time.

Fashion designer Thierry Mugler dies aged 73

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Fashion designer Thierry Mugler dies aged 73

In this file photo taken on February 26, 2019, French fashion designer Thierry Mugler poses during the presentation of his exhibition “Couturissime” at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. French designer Thierry Mugler, who reigned over fashion in the 1980s, died on January 23, 2022 at the age of 73 of “natural causes,” according to his agent Jean-Baptiste Rougeot.

MANILA, Philippines — Legendary French fashion designer Thierry Mugler died yesterday of “natural causes,” according to his agent Jean-Baptiste Rougeot. He was 73.

In a post by the designer’s official Facebook page, it was announced, “We are devastated to announce the passing of Mr Manfred Thierry Mugler on Sunday January 23rd 2022. May his soul Rest In Peace.”

The post simply came with a black photo and a French translation of the announcement.

Mugler’s last post prior to this was a birthday greeting for supermodel Kate Moss, who turned 48 last January 16.

Describing himself in Facebook as a “director, show conceptor, perfume creator, costume designer and photographer,” Mugler was born in Strasbourg, France on December 21, 1948. He had a formal training in interior design from the Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts.

In his early 20s in the ’70s, he began designing clothes and already showing his signature broad-shouldered, ’40s-inspired looks. By 24, he moved to Paris to design clothes for Parisian boutique Gudule. At 26, he was a freelance designer for many ready-to-wear fashion houses in Paris, London, Milan and Barcelona.

In 1973, he created his first collection, “Café de Paris,” which made him gain the attention of powerful fashion editor Melka Tréanton, who helped launch his career. The next year, he founded his own namesake brand. In 1978, he opened his first Paris boutique that gained attention for his sci-fi themes and exaggerated ’40s to ’50s glamour marked by sharp tailoring.

In the ’80s to ’90s, Mugler became an internationally renowned designer and became famous for iconic looks such as the black dress Demi Moore wore in the 1993 movie “Indecent Proposal,” Cirque du Soleil’s “Extravaganza” costumes in 2002, Beyoncé’s “I Am… World Tour” costumes in 2009 and Kim Kardashian’s “wet couture dress” for the 2019 Met Gala.

As a director, among his achievements were directing George Michael’s “Too Funky” video in 1992, the first ad film for one of his fragrances, “Alien,” and “Extravaganza,” one of the scenes of Cirque du Soleil’s “Zumanity.”

Mugler retired as a fashion designer in 2002, but continued to create costumes for special projects under the name “House of Mugler.”

A showman at heart, he organized spectacular public presentations of his creations, and was also celebrated for his “Angel” scent.

Since 1997, Clarins has had rights to use the name “Thierry Mugler” for perfumes, cosmetics and personal care products.

In September 2010, Japan-born Nicola Formichetti was announced as the Creative Director of the Thierry Mugler brand, which Formichetti later rebranded to MUGLER, removing the first name. Formichetti later left MUGLER to move to Italian brand Diesel.

In December 2013, House of Mugler named David Koma as its new artistic director.

Mugler’s daring collections came to define the decade’s power dressing, with his clothes noted for their structured and sophisticated silhouettes.

In later years, he dressed Beyonce and Lady Gaga — and in 2019 came out of retirement to create Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala look.

The designer had been due to announce new collaborations early this week, his agent Jean-Baptiste Rougeot told AFP. — With reports from Agence France-Presse

⚡Manfred Thierry Mugler Dies at 73

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He retired from fashion in 2002 before Clarins shuttered his ready-to-wear brand the next year, yet the iconic designer remained a staple in the world of fashion. The brand was relaunched in 2010 as Mugler, which is currently under the creative direction of designer Casey Cadwallader.