Manfred Thierry Mugler, French Designer Dies At Age 73

Manfred Thierry Mugler, the famous designer who helped develop 1980s power dressing and pioneered a new category with the help of Angel, has died at age 73.

His Career Background

He dressed Diana Ross, Tippi Hedren, and Demi Moore during his career, and more recently, Beyoncé, Cardi B, and Kim Kardashian West. At the 2019 Met Gala, the latter created headlines with her wet-look latex corseted gown.

At the Zenith concert venue in 1984, Mugler was the first designer to throw open the doors of a fashion show to the general public. Moreover, he worked with latex, metal, and feathers, as he pushed the boundaries of clothes design.

However, Mugler left the fashion industry in 2002 to focus on fragrances and costume design. In addition to it, he reverted his given name Manfred and underwent a dramatic physical transformation involving plastic surgery and bodybuilding.

In London, he began his fashion career where he contributed to the Swinging ’60s aesthetic of the time’s fashionable stores.”It was imaginative, exciting, and above all, a truly social environment. In a recent interview with WWD, he said that on Saturday afternoons. All the young folks walked down King’s Road in amazing ensembles.”

The designer is the focus of a permanent exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. It debuted in September with a party attended by Cardi B. “Thierry Mugler: Couturissime” is the designer’s first big show in the French capital. The exhibition, which debuted at Montreal’s Museum of Fine Arts in 2019, and as a result, has since traveled to Rotterdam and Munich.

How His Impact Left A Mark

In a September interview with WWD, Olivier Gabet, director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, said, “He was ahead of his time in many aspects. The phenomena of celebrity as a model to his interaction with the music business, and as a result, had a cultural impact of fashion in current culture.”

He said, “Overall, he was one of those guys who wasn’t formatted by a marketing strategy. His communication was at another level. It was intuitive, intellectual, artistic, and animal-like at moments, which I find refreshing.”

“A true avant-garde artist, his work demonstrated that you don’t have to follow trends to be popular; you just have to be yourself. His work was about celebrating individualities that affected many generations,” he told WWD.

“By following his instinct and empowering men and women through his metamorphosis. He defied the taboos and norms of the fashion industry, as he reinvented haute couture with new creations, and wrote fashion history – without realizing it – season after season. He departed us like a blazing star, in all his grandeur, with a spectacular retrospective honoring his singular legacy,” he continued.

His Great Farewells From The People Close To Him

“We are heartbroken to share the news of Manfred Thierry Mugler’s death on Sunday, January 23rd, 2022. “May his soul rest in peace,” he said on his official Instagram account, alongside a black square. There were no other details available right away.

“Manfred, I am very proud to have known you and to work within your wonderful world. You shifted our perceptions of beauty, self-assurance, representation, and self-determination. I take your legacy with me in whatever I do. Thank you very much.” Casey Cadwallader, Mugler’s current creative director, posted on Instagram.

Sandrine Groslier, worldwide brand president of Mugler clothes and fragrances, worked with Mugler for 27 years. “He was hilarious, passionate, insane at times, and always understood how to pay tribute with a lot of emotion to all women. Manfred Mugler, may you rest in peace.” She wrote this on Instagram.

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