The Rise and Fall of Mugler

Thierry Mugler was the height of fashion from the 80s into the early 90s before a string of cost cutting led the company to close the fashion side all together. Layed dormant for many years, now L'oreal, the new owners, are trying to bring Mugler back to profitability. They've hired new designer Casey Cadwaller and have invested a lot into promotion, but will it be enough to revive Mugler?

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[DDTC]

Having known Manfred on a personal level, he was a big teddy bear. He had his demons, as we all do, but underneath he was a sweetheart. Still very much missed.

[ayushxsinghjk]

Thierry Mugler's the most creative designer. It is depressing for the industry and us that we got only a few collection from Mugler. Cardi B wearing Mugler archives for her first grammy. Kim K 's iconic met gala 2019 wet dress. These moments are going in fashion history books. Mugler was the most artistic person in the industry. PERIOD.

[firouz]

I am old enough to remember the rise but I have never seen the fall!
Instead of adjusting to the new rules of fashion (which are mostly destructive, uncreative and unrealistic) he stopped at the very top!
He never sold out, never produced trash and uninspired basics, never advertised with a cat, his looks, IT bags, or a cheaper line.
He was authentic, creative and true to himself until the very end.
A true hero of my generation.

[francescadulash]

I actually met him in the early 90s. He had a photographic exhibition at the Sofitel Melbourne. He was in full leather and his PA had a cinched leather dom look with Patsy Stones hair! I was in such awe all I could do was say hi.

[FullMoons]

I don’t know why Nicola’s work didn’t manage to revive the brand, in my opinion it’s miles better than what’s going on today. He understood glamour and drama better than the current designer, and I think a small, undeveloped spark of genius lives inside of him. I think the timing was just bad unfortunately.

[Lordpizzacat]

The work you do and the research was impeccable. My jaw dropped at 11:10 seeing how majorly the design quality had fallen. Also your business analysis and marketing breakdown is better that what I was taught in my undergrad business classes. Love everything that you do! ❤️

[mrotaveria]

that retrofuturism of the first collections was impeccable!

[demonas]

i would love to see you talk about kate spade, the brand and the creator herself. it always broke my heart whenever i think about what happened. thank you so much for your videos <3

[costcobongwater]

The timing of the H&M collab is impressive, but the timing of this video is much more impressive
I know bits and pieces about Mugler, but I wanted to know more ever since I saw the designs that are gonna be up for sale

[kingj]

As always, love the exploration of the business aspects of these brands.

[rotten_cabbage]

I'm so excited for this one! Ever since you hinted about it in your Lagerfeld video. I adore Mugler's shows, always so creative and accompanied by a great soundtrack. I do wish however that the garments were more affordable, since I seem to want almost anything under Mugler. Won't be buying from their H&M collab, though it is a great way to get the Mugler look for less.
Thanks again for this amazingly in depth episode. Have a great week everyone!

[georginacalder]

I really enjoyed the business snippets and infographics. It's not often you get to see the seams of a fashion house❤

[gabrielmorod]

The H&M collab was really smart. Great video!

[wvanderwahl]

When I was a student at F.I.T. Mugler was one of THE brands to look at for inspiration. All of the students spent hours in the library looking at video fashion monthly and later Style with Elsa Klensch to get a glimpse of his theatrical fashion shows.
His designs while incredible were sometimes hard to wear. In NYC only stores like Barneys, Charivari, IF and Untitled carried select pieces.
What kept his name afloat for many years was not the ready to wear or even the haute couture which didn't compete with Chanel, YSL, Dior or LaCroix. It was his perfume Angel which is still doing well.

[kevinjewell]

Take it fromp someone who was there and knows the story details a little better first hand...by 1996 Manfred was NOT living in Paris..he was in New York and not designing for the line, he was occupied with the fragrance side of the business and left the line to young undiscovered designers. There was also some theft within the petty cash flow and in people's salaries...nothing to do with Clarins. The design team that had been left in charge of creating the 6 collections a year were rather affected by the image and kept designing garments for women wearing corsets, and by 1998 women DID NOT want to be cinched that tightly, Ready-to-Wear sales plummeted. horribly and that is what made the brand and kept the brand going, parfum was the cash cow that kept Couture collections and shows alive. After their fall the designers blamed Clarins, as you have expressed, but the design team did not adapt to the customers wants and needs...they just didn't go with the flow. After 2001 the brand was dead. Some guy bought the brand Men's license and his son designed, but quality of fabrics and fabrication was awful. Then when the relaunched the women's line it was just as bad. The designer didn't have the style nor the eye, and certainly not the knowledge of colors or fabric selection to make the brand prosper...so the brand went from bad to worse...I saw several friends try to work for the team around the brand that was only Mugler by then but the esthetic was dull and lackluster...no glamour or allure. In the late 90's Manfred Thierry Mugler would still send over some designs by fax or UPS...but for the 2010's he would appear up for a show and take the runway with the designer. Sadly his Follies Bergere cabaret was a rehashing of his old designs, nothing inventive or imaginative, like moving the same chess pieces on a checkerboard. What I have seen of this new designer does not impress me, I'd have to see the garments in person to know if the quality has returned in their fabrication and if they are investing in quality fabrics. I have pieces from my time designing with the team and some older pieces that are 20-40 years old and they all look better in 2023 than the crap that was sold in the 2000's and 2010's.

[jelizavetase]

This is not a YT video, it is a lecture! Thank you so much for your work.

[Babe]

So Loreal showed Claire's their incompetent 😂

[ROZIEmusic]

the closing statement of hoping to see the increase in theatricality in Mugler shows has ABSOLUTELY come into fruition with the recent two collections since this video was posted - SS24 was in constant flowing motion with huge fans blowing the garments around in beautiful ways and SS24 with its multi-level curtain reveals (the moment where the curtain whooshes away like a dark spirit gives me so I'm so excited for whatever is next!!

[seriouspleasures]

I watched an interview with model Emma S on Swedish morning TV some years ago where they talked about the metal "corset" she wore in the "Too Funky" (the same Lady Gaga wore in the "Paparazzi" video, and fitted quite well even though it wasn't molded onto her body like ot it had for Emma S).

"Wasn't it painful to wear?" asked the TV host.

"Oh, yes! I was bruised for weeks!"

The things you go through, because you know the end result will make fashion history!

Edited: as an armchair perfumer, what Mugler Parfums did was so clever, yet risky.

They didn't let the fragrances go through panel group after panel group until the final composition was sort of appealing to most, and didn't offend anybody.

The end result ends up being very generi.

I heard Lancôme went through over 3000 tweaks with their "La Vie est Belle" perfume, which ended up smelling like a tamed-down "Angel".

Mugler fragrances were polarizing "love them or hate them", and isn't that more interesting than smelling like your mother and in law or like a really nice fabric softener?

[christopherpearson]

This was absolutely spectacular!! Thank you for this. ❤❤