Thierry Mugler

by François Baudot

Muscular and macho, a mystery behind his signature shades, Mugler has always loved to shock. In his teen years, Mugler was a dancer at the Ballet du Rhin, which inspired his passion for movement and theatrical effect. At the same time, he was a student at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs which developed his knowledge of design. At twenty he got a job at Gudule, the first of Strasbourg's "swinging" boutiques, and two years later was working as a freelancer for couturiers in Paris, Milan, and London. In 1973 he created his first independant collection that was the first intimation of the super-cool, ultra-feminine style that was to become his own.

Whether she manifests herself as an astronaut, rodeo girl, Russian peasant, lady vampire, or blue angel, la muglerienne is versed in Freud, Les Liaisons Dangereuses and comic strips. So daring is his vision that such popular icons as Verushka, Dee-Lite, Diana Ross, Ivana Trump, Darryl Hannah, Jerry Hall, and Patty Hearst have willingly participated in his mega fashion shows. Then came the Muglerman, with impeccably cut clothes to echo the male figure, with pronounced shoulders and waist and tapered trousers. In addition, Mugler has designed for the stage and screen, has created a perfume called "Angel" which is only outsold by Chanel No. 5, and is a highly respected photographer. He is truly a superstar in a leather jacket.

Genres: Nonfiction

80 pages, Hardcover

First published May 15, 1998

About the author

François Baudot was a French journalist and author of several books on decorative art and fashion.

Reviews

[flannery · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When you live for the open blue sky, what else is there to reach for but the stars? There is something of the Peter Pan in Thierry Mugler, the man who sports a blue star under his leather jacket. With his sweet-smelling perfume named after an angel, his empty apartments, his ever-ready travel bag and cameras, he is always on the alert, poised for departure, flitting from one collection to the next in the company of creatures sprung from his imagination: shoulder-padded giantesses, nannies en deshabille, a galaxy of vamps that he is gradually completing with each collection. Liberationists criticize Mugler for making a fetish of woman as the eternally feminine. But there is no one today today who has a better idea of how to dress a woman- not so much man's equal, it seems to him, as man's superior."

[Kevin Connery · Rating 4 out of 5]

High-level overview only. Some decent photos, but it's a thin book.