exhibits Thierry Mugler, Couturissime September 30 – April 24, 2021 Musée des Arts Décoratifs From the 1970s until 2002, when Thierry Mugler turned the page on fashion, the designer established himself as one of the most daring and inventive couturiers of his time, going so far as to embody the image of the 1980s, thanks to a graphic silhouette of remarkable strength. In the 1990s, he made a powerful contribution to the renaissance of haute couture through his collections and his sense of staging spectacular catwalks and grandiose photographs, allied with the most iconic models. “Thierry Mugler, Couturissime” organized in several acts, like an opera, thematically mixes costumes, animated projections, photographs and music, creating atmospheres that embody the different projects in which the artist has been involved since the end of the years. The exhibition, which is spread over two levels, opens with an evocation of Mugler’s fantastic bestiary, from the microfauna to the depths of the sea giving pride of place to excess: futuristic silhouettes with pointed shoulders, abyssal necklines, unreal wasp sizes ...Two exceptional silhouettes from the Insects and Chimera collections (1997/1998) brilliantly illustrate this section. A black velvet drag sheath, adorned with butterfly wings from the house of Lemarié and an articulated “creature” of iridescent scales embroidered with crystals, fancy diamonds, feathers and horsehair, are now part of the masterpieces. absolute works of sewing. Nymphs dressed in notched glass shell bustiers and extravagant organza jellyfish seem to move twenty thousand
leagues under the sea. Science fiction takes over from this animal and aquatic world: comic book superheroines, industrial design and futuristic automobiles become new sources of inspiration. Surprising robotic, bodied, aerodynamic creatures, fashioned from innovative materials, which have become emblematic, anticipate the revolutions of transhumanism. The artist has humorously designed removable or “convertible” sleeves, “bumper” bustiers, and “radiator” belts. One can only admire his Maschinenmensch, unveiled in 1995 for the 20th anniversary of his company: a fully articulated robotic armor which required no less than six months of intensive work. Outside of fashion design, Thierry Mugler distinguished himself in the field of perfumery by giving birth, in 1992, to Angel, an olfactory revolution that launched the trend for gourmet fragrances. A room staged by the artist
A room is dedicated to the photographic achievements of Mugler himself who, in 1976, began shooting his own visual campaigns, playing on the glamor and beauty of his muses, from Jerry Hall to Iman, in places extremes, from Greenland to the Sahara, to the roofs of the Paris Opera. completes this section by evoking the world of scents imagined by the creator and which have ArtDiction | 12 | July/August 2021
“ Les Insectes “ collection, haute couture spring-summer 1997 Rubber suit, tire effect . Collaboration with Abel Villarreal © Patrice Stable.
always been synonymous for him with infinity and dreams. From the end of the 1960s, fashion photography developed by replacing illustrations to fully impose itself. From the second floor, the exhibition devotes pride of place to this medium with many rare prints signed by the greatest artists and fashion photographers, including Guy Bourdin, Jean-Paul Goude, Karl Lagerfeld, Dominique Issermann, David LaChapelle , Luigi & Iango, Sarah Moon, Pierre et Gilles, Paolo Roversi, Herb Ritts and Ellen von Unwerth as well as the fruitful collaboration between Thierry Mugler and photographer Helmut Newton. A room is dedicated to the photographic achievements of Mugler himself who, in 1976, began shooting his own visual campaigns, playing on the glamor and beauty of his muses, from Jerry Hall to Iman, in places extremes, from Greenland to the Sahara, to the roofs of the Paris Opera. At the end of the 1970s, Mugler created the “glamazone”, a chic,
