Thierry Mugler’s show brings leather, lace and darkness to Paris Fashion Week

It’s been a little over a year since the death of French designer Thierry Mugler. He passed away on January 23, 2022 at the age of 73.

Just this week, industry insiders paid tribute to Mugler on the one-year anniversary of his death, including supermodel Cindy Crawford, who posted a clip from a 1991 runway show.

Now, for Spring-Summer 2023 Haute-Couture Fashion Week in Paris, Mugler creative director Casey Cadwallader took another look at the Mugler brand for the January 26 runway show. Yes, it was very theatrical, but in a different way.

While Mugler’s older works are marked by a technicolor flair—I mean, come on, just check out his well-deserved Brooklyn Museum retrospective Couturissime, which runs until May 7 – feathers and sequins are traded for leather and lace.

But this runway show almost mourned the designer with an all-black catwalk full of lace veils, gowns and a romantic touch of the macabre.

It wasn’t just what, but who. Appeared on the star-studded runway posturing star Dominique Jackson donned a lace bodice with a matching veil, while supermodel legend Debra Shaw smiled down the runway as she wore a (very Parisian) plunging neckline in an asymmetric jacket-style dress, full with faded fabric.

Other stars who hit the Mugler runway included late-night host Ziwe, as well as model Irina Shak, who wore an off-the-shoulder minidress, and Anok Yai, who really stole the show with an added sense of drama.

Arca, a Venezuelan pop star, also walked the runway under a spotlight. Dramatic lighting gave the show an old-school film noir vibe, even with a large screen projecting the moment behind them. The front row was filled with just as many stars on the catwalk as Lisa Rinna, Kylie Minogue and Charlie XCX.

Overall, this Mugler collection is like boudoir meets biker chic, the inner and outer self. The track was full of attitude, sure, but not without a bit of gothic flair, like The Addams Family trying to break into Berghain. The plunging gowns were a highlight, and so were the puppies.