French fashion designer Thierry Mugler dies at 73 | fashion

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French designer Manfred Thierry Mugler, known for the strong, high-shouldered silhouettes that dominated fashion in the 1980s, died Sunday at the age of 73 from “natural causes,” according to his agent.

A former ballerina, Mugler’s daring ensembles—performed in ultra-chic runway shows—were at the forefront of the structured, decadent style that became known as “power adornment.”

“It was timeless and ahead of its time,” model Jerry Hall – the face of bestselling Angel fragrance – said of the designer in 2019. “The ’70s and early ’80s,” she told the New York Times.

Although Mugler retired from the label that bears his name in 2002, he has not given up on the apparel industry. He was responsible for Beyoncé’s science fiction influenced by Sasha Fierce’s looks in the late 2000s. He also created costumes for Lady Gaga and Cardi B. In 2019, he created Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala look, a latex dress dripping in crystal.

Kim Kardashian West attends the 2019 Met Gala: fashion notes in a Thierry Mugler dress. Photography: Rabbani and Soliman Photography/WireImage

“We are devastated by the announcement of the death of Mr. Manfred Thierry Mugler on Sunday, January 23, 2022,” read a post on the designer’s official Facebook account.

Born in Strasbourg in December 1948, he arrived in Paris at the age of twenty and created his own brand “Café de Paris” in 1973, a year before founding Thierry Mugler.

The LGBTQ community has been a frequent source of talent and designer inspiration. Mugler cast mutated models on his runway shows in the early 1980s, and collaborated frequently with drag artists and club kids on and off the runway, including corset maker Mr. Pearl.

Thierry Mugler on the runway with Sharon Stone in 1992 – Los Angeles, California. Photo: Bye/Rex/Shutterstock

By the late 1990s, the Mugler name was associated more with perfume than with fashion, thanks to his popular fragrance Angel. The rights to his name were acquired by the cosmetics giant Clarins in 1997, and this fragrance and its offshoots are still a bestseller.

In 2002, Mugler’s fashion division closed, but the brand was revived in 2010 under the creative direction of designer Nicola Formicetti, and later Casey Cadwallader.

Mugler’s use of corsets and his exaggerated approach to the female body drew criticism, but the designer was no less extreme with his physique. In 2019, the reclusive stylist posed for a nude photoshoot with Interview magazine, discussing his extensive body-building and plastic surgeries routine. “I think it is important for people to be fully aware of themselves. I have always been fascinated by the human body, and I wanted to pay tribute to what it can do.”

In 2019, the designer was the subject of a major retrospective, Thierry Mugler: Couturissime, which debuted in Montreal, before touring Paris in 2021.

The designer’s agent, Jean-Baptiste Rogot, told AFP that the designer was due to announce a new collaboration earlier this week.

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