June 06, 2024

DRESSCODE: MUGLER'S RAINBOW

We’re all about rainbows here at Recess and with this month being Gay Pride, we are color me happy to be offering this iconic and super rare two-piece rainbow suit by Thierry Mugler from the 1990 Spring/Summer collection titled “Arc en Ciel.” It was worn by supermodel and super babe Linda Evangelista on the runway, worn in the official ad campaign by Gisele Zelany in Cairo and shot by Mario Testino. It has been featured and documented in a variety of publications including Taschen’s “Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century” and in ‘Thierry Mugler: Couturissime’ a traveling exhibition of his artistic fashion history.

All the colors of the rainbow in this brushed wool skirt suit with a fitted jacket and wave pattern. The jacket has rounded edges, an asymmetrical hemline, tapered sleeves, and a pushbutton closure with the button color matching the given panel. The suit comes complete with a short pencil skirt in flowing colors and both are cut to be quintessentially Mugler.

"ON A SCALE FROM ONE TO TEN, IN MUGLER
I FEEL LIKE AN ELEVEN!"

JULIE NEWMAR.

Julie Newmar wearing Thierry Mugler, 1992. Image source

For those who have had the privileged thrill of donning a Mugler piece, they will be the first to tell you about the metamorphosis that occurs when his clothes are worn. Mugler did not simply dress someone, he transformed the wearer with his penchant for PVC, latex, leather, and showmanship - sometimes into a glamazonian alien empress, a space-age supervixen, a golden goddess super warrior, a Harley Davidson hybrid biker babe, a hybrid fish, bird, mermaid aquatic villainess - no one else comes close to the Shakespearean levels of the grandeur of Mugler. By very definition, he is the art of playing dress up or power dressing - it’s the power of Thierry Mugler.

"THE OPPOSITE OF GOOD TASTE IS SAFE,"
MUGLER.

The shape of a woman’s body was one of his main inspirations and this explains the figure-hugging corsets and exaggerated silhouettes that became his campy contemporary signature. Contemporary he was. He was one of the first designers to champion diversity in his runway shows and one of the first to showcase non-traditional models such as porn stars and drag queens. He cast transgender models in his runway shows in the 1980s and continued to collaborate with drag artists and other members of the LGBTQ community throughout his five-decade career.

Mugler died of natural causes at the age of 73 on January 23, 2022 in his beloved Paris. He left behind an untouchable fantastical design legacy of blazing rainbows that continue to adorn the sculpted sensual silhouettes of his clothes that say so much in a very simple way.