exhibit) Mugler designed for the London boutiques
Mr. Freedom and Mother Wouldn't Like It in the 1960s. In 1971, he began designing clothes for Karim, already showing the broad-shouldered, 1940s-derived looks he would become famous for in later years. In 1972, his full-skirted raincoat became a hit. At the age of 24, Mugler moved to Paris. He began designing clothes for Gudule, a Parisian boutique. At 26, he began to design for a variety of large
ready-to-wear fashion houses in Paris, Milan, London and Barcelona. The 1977 showing of his spring 1978 line displayed a
punk influence. In 1978, he opened his first Paris boutique at the
Place des Victoires in the
1er Arrondissement and rapidly gained attention as among the most extreme of the
Fall 1978 broad-shoulder brigade of designers, with a penchant for mid-20th-century sci-fi themes and exaggerated 1940s-50s-style glamour marked by sharply constructed tailoring. He used exclusively
Maud Frizon footwear in his late seventies-early eighties women's collections, the most influential shoe designer of the period. At the same time, Mugler launched a fashion collection for men. He would continue into the following decade with his 1940s-style shoulders on 1950s-tailored suits amid retrograde Wagnerian showmanship. During the 1980s and 1990s Mugler became an internationally recognized designer, often grouped with his friends
Claude Montana and
Azzedine Alaïa but known especially for his shapely suits, and his collections garnered much commercial success. Except for a couple of sedate salon presentations in 1986 and 1987 (when he also reduced his shoulder padding), his fashion shows were extravagant affairs held in arena-like environments and the collections associated with them had themes, sci-fi and cavewoman themes in the late seventies, celestial themes later, a 60s theme one season, an Africa theme another, a vampire-devil theme the next, and an aquatic theme the next, with ongoing creative motifs that would span multiple collections, like his late-eighties inclusion of garments and accessories modeled after the tailfins and chrome trim of 1950s U.S. automobiles, most recognizably
1959 Cadillacs. Another ongoing characteristic of Mugler's 1980s collections was an increased inclusion of 1950s items like hobbling sheath skirts, tottering stiletto heels, boned and corseted bodices, hats and gloves. This was especially evident in the showpieces from his circus-like arena extravaganzas. His spring 1989 oceanic-themed presentation, for instance, featured 1950s-style trumpet dresses/mermaid dresses that could have been lifted right out of the 1950s from designers like
Rochas and others. Mugler designed the dresses of
Viktor Lazlo for hosting
Eurovision Song Contest 1987. He created the black dress worn by
Demi Moore in the 1993 movie
Indecent Proposal. Mugler published his first photography book in 1988,
Thierry Mugler: Photographer. This was followed by a
monograph in 1999, titled
Fashion Fetish Fantasy, which assembles photos of his creations. Mugler also directed short films, advertising films and video clips. He regularly designed costumes for musical comedies, concerts, operas and the theatre (including Macbeth for the
Comédie Française). He worked with
Robert Altman and
George Michael (he directed the video for Michael's "
Too Funky" in 1992). He also directed the first advertising film for one of his fragrances, Alien. In 1990,
Clarins acquired a 34 percent share in Thierry Mugler Couture when it signed a deal to produce the brand's fragrances. At the request of the
Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, he completed his first
haute couture collection in 1992. By 1997, Clarins increased this share to 83.5 percent, acquiring its stake by purchasing stock from Mugler, the Marceau Group and Didier Grumbach.
Retirement from fashion Clarins shuttered the ready-to-wear component of Mugler's brand in 2003, due to financial losses. It kept the perfume division open as it was profitable. Mugler left fashion in 2002. When asked about the subject, he said: "Fashion is beautiful, 3-D art on a human being. But it wasn't enough, which is why I went on to create in other ways. For me, it wasn't the right tool anymore. But perfume still interests me". In 2002, Mugler collaborated with the
Cirque du Soleil. He directed "Extravaganza", one of the scenes of
Zumanity, and also created all of the costumes and the identity of the characters in the show. In 2008, the Mugler brand launched Thierry Mugler Beauty, a high-end line of cosmetics. In 2009, Mugler worked as artistic advisor to singer
Beyoncé. He created the costumes for her "
I Am... World Tour". An April 2010
New York Times story discussed Mugler's
cosmetic transformation. "[Mugler has] taken to calling himself Manfred and transformed his body...into what is apparently a 240-pound spectacle of muscle and nipple and tattoo..." In December 2013, House of Mugler announced
David Koma as the
artistic director. In 2016, Mugler created and directed the music video and staging for
San Marino's
Eurovision Song Contest entry "
I Didn't Know" performed by Turkish singer
Serhat. Despite retiring from his brand in 2003, he made the exception to design under his name "House of Mugler" for the
Met Gala in 2019 and for
Kim Kardashian. Getting his inspiration from
Sophia Loren in the film
Boy on a Dolphin, Mugler envisioned a wet California girl; hence the creation of the "wet couture dress". The American designer
Casey Cadwallader was named Mugler's new creative director in December 2017. During the period of the pandemic, Mugler skipped runways for video shows that were co-created with
DIS magazine's spin-off, Torso Solutions.
Megan Thee Stallion,
Chloe Sevigny,
Bella Hadid, and
Eartheater were featured in the Mugler Spring 2022 Ready-to-Wear Collection video which ended with a brief homage to the late Mugler. The homage was dancing feature by prima ballerina
Maria Kochetkova and
vogueing superstar Barbie Swaee. After an almost three-year hiatus from runway shows, Mugler returned to an in-person show in Paris FW 2023. The runway featured models
Adut Akech,
Paloma Elsesser,
Eva Herzigova,
Ziwe,
Arca and
Memphy. An image was shown on an extra-large TV screen flanked by a staircase in the middle of the runway fusing digital with IRL. In March 2025, Mugler announced the appointment of
Miguel Castro Freitas as the new Creative Director for the house.
Fragrances Mugler's first perfume appeared in 1992 and was called "
Angel". It contains a combination of
praline and chocolate mixed with a strong accord of
patchouli. It would be a part of a new fragrance type called
gourmand. The Angel bottle, in the shape of a faceted star, was created by the Brosse Master Glassmakers. Fans of the fragrance include
Diana Ross,
Barbara Walters,
Eva Mendes and
Hillary Clinton. In 1996, Mugler followed up Angel with a male version named Angel Men or A*Men. This fragrance includes notes of caramel, coffee, vanilla, patchouli and honey. In 2005, Alien was created, the second major Thierry Mugler fragrance. Also in 2005, Mugler launched the "Thierry Mugler Perfume Workshops", which are open to the general public and led by specialists of the perfumery and
oenology world. In 2006, Mugler completed a project for the launch of
Tom Tykwer's film
Perfume. In collaboration with the IFF company, Mugler created a box set of fifteen compositions. During 2007, still following the metamorphosis theme, Mugler launched Mirror, Mirror, a collection of five fragrances, created as "perfume-trickery" to "enhance one's presence". Angel and Alien together produce about $280 million in sales annually. In 2010, the fragrance Womanity was released by the House of Mugler. Angel Muse was released in 2015; Angel Nova was released in June 2020. A recent Angel flanker is Angel Elixir, released in February 2023 with a campaign starring
Hunter Schafer, with the flankers Angel Fantasm (2024) and Angel Stellar (2025) following respectively. == Legacy ==