Paris (AFP)
The exuberance and the creative madness of Thierry Mugler, couturier, artist and photographer, are exhibited in Paris, inviting them to leave the virtual world and push the limits of commercial and standardized fashion.
The exhibition "Thierry Mugler: Couturissime" at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD) in Paris opens to the public on Thursday, a symbolic date because in the middle of Fashion week which returns to the parades after being confined to the internet during the Covid pandemic.
It was Thierry Mugler who in the 1970s was the pioneer of the show parade, as we know it today and who missed so much during confinement.
"It is important to show what Thierry Mugler represents in 2021 to the young generation, perhaps more standardized, less pushed to creativity in a more commercialized fashion", declares to AFP Thierry-Maxime Loriot, commissioner of the exhibition, originally produced by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
A piece from the exhibition "Thierry Mugler: Couturissime" at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris on September 28, 2021 Christophe ARCHAMBAULT AFP
- Chimera dress and insect dress -
It took two years to create the chimera dress on display at the exhibition, each scale of which is handcrafted and painted and which was seen for just two minutes on the catwalk.
Jerry Hall wore in 1997 an "insect" dress, Emma Sjöberg was in 1992 in a corset in the shape of a motorcycle handlebar for the filming of the clip Too Funcky by George Michael ...
The 72-year-old couturier retired from fashion in 2002, but today's pop culture icons like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Cardi B and Kim Kardashian sport his archival outfits for special occasions.
"I was not fashion and I did not follow trends. It tells a story and perpetuates it in a way", comments Thierry Mugler in the catalog of the exhibition.
Plexiglas or metal bustiers, costumes mounted on rubber, the use of latex instead of leather, vinyl tailors, faux furs: its materials and techniques are revolutionary.
Exhibition "Thierry Mugler: Couturissime" at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris on September 28, 2021 Christophe ARCHAMBAULT AFP
The same goes for the "gourmet" perfume in which he introduces a molecule used for sweets.
Launched in 1992, "Angel" will compete for first place in sales at the legendary Chanel N ° 5.
"Mugler wanted to break away from haute couture which corresponded to an elite, and show that young people could also wear haute couture and that it could be something other than a dress to go to a chic evening", notes Thierry-Maxime Oriole.
Boldness also pays off in men's collections: in 1985, the Minister of Culture Jack Lang was whistled in the National Assembly because of his Mao collar suit signed Mugler worn without a tie.
The next day, Yves Mourousi, star presenter of TF1, wears the same.
- "Opera in nine acts" -
Like Thierry Mugler and his shows, the exhibition will be "staged" and presented as an "opera in nine acts" with installations and visual effects.
"I love giving the show. People don't go to the movies anymore because they have Netflix. Here, they will be able to discover the Mugler universe themselves through his photos, paintings, video clips", says the commissioner.
Exhibition "Thierry Mugler: Couturissime" at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris on September 28, 2021 Christophe ARCHAMBAULT AFP
In a world "where one must be loved on social networks" and one dresses the same "in Montreal, Hong Kong, Melbourne and Paris" with mass distribution brands, the exhibition celebrates daring and "individuality".
“The idea is that people leave here with a smile, that they feel happy,” underlines Thierry-Maxime Loriot.
For the director of MAD, Olivier Gabet, Thierry Mugler "highlighted the parade as a kind of great communion around the designer, women, musicians ... Today, this fashion show seems quite normal to us" .
"We can all like to listen to music on the radio, watch the film on our computer screen, see digital fashion. But the real emotion is the one we encounter when we have this direct contact with creation", he concludes.
© 2021 AFP