Thierry Mugler‘s influence on the fashion and beauty world is undeniable. We review the amazing life and innovations of this avant-garde designer.
Thierry Mugler has the Midas touch. He’s one of those rare people who throughout their lives have many careers and carry them out with absolute perfection. He was born in Strasbourg, France and by age 14 he had been accepted to join the Rhine Opera ballet where he was a dancer for six years. At the same time Thierry enrolled in the School of Decorative Arts, showing up for his interview wearing an outfit he designed.
At 20 he moved to Paris, where he was hired by upmarket boutique Gudule which showcased his designs. After two years Thierry started working as a freelance designer for different ready-to-wear companies and continued this for seven years. In 1974, with his own label ready to launch, the House of Thierry Mugler opened. He also opened a factory in Angers and the brilliance of its ultra-modern design won an architecture award.
Between 1978 and 1996 six boutiques followed, along with 50 points of sale. His fashion label grew to include accessories and jewellery as well. Thierry was also nominated as a member of the prestigious Association for the French Haute Couture.
He has stayed true to his design ethos that a woman should always look both sexy and feminine, playing up the best aspects of her figure. No wonder celebrities such as Beyoncé, Jerry Hall and Amy Wesson are such fans.
Not content to rest on his laurels, while the House of Mugler buzzed happily along, Thierry started another career path in the arts: he has directed films; created a new show for Cirque du Soleil; and directed, written and staged video clips, including one for George Michael. ‘Too Funky’ was nominated for an award as the Best Visual Clip of the Century.
Thierry has also designed costumes for films and the theatre and in 2009 he created all the costumes for Beyoncé’s world tour. During that same year he also helped stage Arias with a Twist, which won the award for Best Off-Broadway Production. This year a musical conceived and directed by Thierry called Fables will open in Paris.
Of course, it was bound to happen that Thierry would turn his incredible talents to beauty. He had always harboured a special love for fragrance – some of his most enduring childhood memories were of his mother gliding down the staircase at home with the smell of delicious French fragrances wafting after her.
In 1990 Thierry partnered with Clarins to form Thierry Mugler Parfums. Out of that collaboration came Angel, a fragrance like no other which to this day is seen as truly unique. In 1996 A’Men was launched, a men’s fragrance. This was followed by Innocent in 1996 and Mugler Cologne in 2001.
Thierry decided his next fragrance was going to be one which reached out to even more women. His aim was to capture the true essence of every facet of energy a woman generates, be it mother, career woman or sports star. He also wanted to capture a woman’s ability to be honest, frank, playful and full of joy; a fragrance that is sweet and savoury, elegant and playful.
After extensive research, Thierry discovered Mane, a company which had just perfected a completely new method of fragrance manufacture, called molecular extraction. This reconstructs the aromatic body of any given material much more precisely and rigorously than any previous method. In fact, it is impossible to detect any difference between a molecular extraction and the substance from which it was extracted.
In 2009 Womanity was the result of all the years of research and this amazing new technology. It has been described by Thierry as femininity unravelling in ripples. Anyone who has had the pleasure to wear Womanity will tell you of the amazing reaction of others to this fragrance. Such comments include: ‘What are you wearing, it’s so beautiful and interesting,’ ‘It seems to linger where you have been,’ ‘I just love it.’
Men of all ages seem to be very drawn to women wearing Womanity. It seems Thierry has definitely captured the true woman with this fragrance. Even the bottle is a beautiful sculpture of a woman.
Fashion designer, perfumer, director, artistic adviser, dancer – we wait with baited breath to see what the innovative and irrepressible Thierry Mugler will perfect next.
