56-416: Manfred Thierry Mugler ( French pronunciation: [manfʁɛd tjɛʁi myɡlɛʁ] ; 21 December 1948 – 23 January 2022) was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the following decades for his avant-garde , architectural, hyperfeminine and theatrical approach to haute couture . He
112-460: A dialectical approach to such political stances by avant-garde artists and the avant-garde genre of art. Sociologically, as a stratum of the intelligentsia of a society, avant-garde artists, writers, architects, et al. produce artefacts — works of art, books, buildings — that intellectually and ideologically oppose the conformist value system of mainstream society. In the essay " Avant-Garde and Kitsch " (1939), Clement Greenberg said that
168-850: A few others of this period, Montana's designs displayed a longing for styles of the 1940s and '50s. He was an avid colorist and favored blue, red, metallic, and neutral tones, in luxurious materials such as cashmere , leather, and silk. He started his own company, The House of Montana, in 1979, and quickly became a darling of 1980s high fashion along with Thierry Mugler , who also favored aggressive shapes and strong colours. Through 1986, he would continue to be associated with exaggerated shoulder pads, even declaring in 1985, "Shoulders forever," but in 1987 he began to soften his style, with some moves in that direction as early as 1984, and in 1988 he presented much-reduced shoulders and even shoulderless tops in an architectural but softened spring collection that focused on standaway waists, collars, and jacket fronts,
224-612: A granddaughter by a previous marriage. In June 1996, Wallis died after falling three stories from their Paris apartment. The death was ruled a suicide. Claude Montana died in Paris on 23 February 2024, at the age of 76. In October 2010 it was announced that Montana and Marielle Cro were working on a coffee-table book documenting Montana's career. The book, "Claude Montana: Fashion Radical", includes photos and interviews with insiders who witnessed Montana's career firsthand. It came out in April 2011 in
280-491: A number of others, contributed to a trend toward dramatic collar treatments on the now-natural shoulders of his garments. In the earliest 1990s, Montana returned somewhat to futuristic looks, this time joining a trend toward sixties Space Age revival, with sharply tailored suits featuring vivid colors, prominent zippers, stretch fabrics, and angular but narrow shoulders. In 1981, Montana designed his first collection for men, called Montana Hommes, in which he focused on
336-541: A post-modern time when the modernist ways of thought and action and the production of art have become redundant in a capitalist economy. Parting from the claims of Greenberg in the late 1930s and the insights of Poggioli in the early 1960s, in The De-Definition of Art: Action Art to Pop to Earthworks (1983), the critic Harold Rosenberg said that since the middle of the 1960s the politically progressive avant-garde ceased being adversaries to artistic commercialism and
392-525: Is another definition of "Avant-gardism" that distinguishes it from "modernism": Peter Bürger, for example, says avant-gardism rejects the "institution of art" and challenges social and artistic values, and so necessarily involves political, social, and cultural factors. According to the composer and musicologist Larry Sitsky , modernist composers from the early 20th century who do not qualify as avant-gardists include Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Igor Stravinsky; later modernist composers who do not fall into
448-633: Is facilitated by mechanically produced art-products of mediocre quality displacing art of quality workmanship; thus, the profitability of art-as-commodity determines its artistic value. In The Society of the Spectacle (1967), Guy Debord said that the financial, commercial, and economic co-optation of the avant-garde into a commodity produced by neoliberal capitalism makes doubtful that avant-garde artists will remain culturally and intellectually relevant to their societies for preferring profit to cultural change and political progress. In The Theory-Death of
504-546: Is not reducible to a kitsch style or reactionary orientation, but can instead be used to refer to artists who engage with the legacy of the avant-garde while maintaining an awareness that doing so is in some sense anachronistic. The critic Charles Altieri argues that avant-garde and arrière-garde are interdependent: "where there is an avant-garde, there must be an arrière-garde ." Avant-garde in music can refer to any form of music working within traditional structures while seeking to breach boundaries in some manner. The term
560-615: Is used loosely to describe the work of any musicians who radically depart from tradition altogether. By this definition, some avant-garde composers of the 20th century include Arnold Schoenberg , Richard Strauss (in his earliest work), Charles Ives , Igor Stravinsky , Anton Webern , Edgard Varèse , Alban Berg , George Antheil (in his earliest works only), Henry Cowell (in his earliest works), Harry Partch , John Cage , Iannis Xenakis , Morton Feldman , Karlheinz Stockhausen , Pauline Oliveros , Philip Glass , Meredith Monk , Laurie Anderson , and Diamanda Galás . There
616-598: The Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture , he completed his first haute couture collection in 1992. By 1997, Clarins increased this share to 83.5 percent, acquiring its stake by purchasing stock from Mugler, the Marceau Group and Didier Grumbach. Since then, Clarins has held the rights to the Thierry Mugler name. Clarins shuttered the ready-to-wear component of Mugler's brand in 2003, due to financial losses. It kept
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#1733086198140672-578: The Cirque d'hiver venue in Paris; and has been referred to as the " Woodstock of Fashion", for having over 300 designed looks, an elaborate set design, dozens of high-profile supermodels and a performance from James Brown . He also designed costumes for Beyoncé 's I Am... World Tour , and created a one-off design for Kim Kardashian to wear to the 2019 Met Gala . Thierry Mugler was born in Strasbourg , France. At
728-572: The intelligentsia of a society, avant-garde artists promote progressive and radical politics and advocate for societal reform with and through works of art. In the essay "The Artist, the Scientist, and the Industrialist" (1825), Benjamin Olinde Rodrigues 's political usage of vanguard identified the moral obligation of artists to "serve as [the] avant-garde" of the people, because "the power of
784-412: The 1993 movie Indecent Proposal , which was once coined "the most famous dress of the 1990s". In 1992, he directed and designed the outfits for George Michael 's " Too Funky " music video; also that year he launched the perfume Angel , which became one of the best-selling perfumes of the 20th century. Mugler's fall 1995 haute couture collection, marking the 20th anniversary of his brand, was staged at
840-491: The Avant-Garde ( Teoria dell'arte d'avanguardia , 1962), the academic Renato Poggioli provides an early analysis of the avant-garde as art and as artistic movement. Surveying the historical and social, psychological and philosophical aspects of artistic vanguardism, Poggioli's examples of avant-garde art, poetry, and music, show that avant-garde artists share some values and ideals as contemporary bohemians . In Theory of
896-473: The Avant-Garde ( Theorie der Avantgarde , 1974), the literary critic Peter Bürger looks at The Establishment 's embrace of socially critical works of art as capitalist co-optation of the artists and the genre of avant-garde art, because "art as an institution neutralizes the political content of the individual work [of art]". In Neo-avantgarde and Culture Industry: Essays on European and American Art from 1955 to 1975 (2000), Benjamin H. D. Buchloh argues for
952-673: The Avant-Garde (1991), Paul Mann said that the avant-garde are economically integral to the contemporary institutions of the Establishment, specifically as part of the culture industry . Noting the conceptual shift, theoreticians, such as Matei Calinescu , in Five Faces of Modernity: Modernism, Avant-garde, Decadence, Kitsch, Postmodernism (1987), and Hans Bertens in The Idea of the Postmodern: A History (1995), said that Western culture entered
1008-520: The Brosse Master Glassmakers. Fans of the fragrance include Diana Ross , Barbara Walters , Eva Mendes and Hillary Clinton . In 1996, Mugler followed up Angel with a male version named Angel Men or A*Men. This fragrance includes notes of caramel, coffee, vanilla, patchouli and honey. In 2005, Alien was created, the second major Thierry Mugler fragrance. Also in 2005, Mugler launched the "Thierry Mugler Perfume Workshops", which are open to
1064-524: The Shoulder Pad," designing aggressive silhouettes which came to define the ‘power-dressing’ era of the 1980s. Born in Paris on 29 June 1947 to a Spanish father and a German mother, Montana began his career by designing papier-mâché jewelry covered with rhinestones . Later, he discovered leather and the complex techniques associated with it, eventually becoming a leading force in leather. His first fashion show took place in 1976. He attracted attention
1120-581: The Thierry Mugler brand. He changed the brand name to MUGLER, removing the first name, and in January 2011, he launched the revival of the brand's menswear collection in collaboration with Romain Kremer . An April 2010 New York Times story discussed Mugler's cosmetic transformation . "[Mugler has] taken to calling himself Manfred and transformed his body...into what is apparently a 240-pound spectacle of muscle and nipple and tattoo..." With over two years of being
1176-423: The age of 73. [REDACTED] Media related to Thierry Mugler at Wikimedia Commons Avant-garde In the arts and literature , the term avant-garde (from French meaning ' advance guard ' or ' vanguard ' ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art , and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable to
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#17330861981401232-560: The age of 9, he began to study classical dance. By 14, he joined the ballet corps for the Rhin Opera ( Opéra national du Rhin ). As a teenager, he also began formal interior design training at the Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts . Mugler designed for the London boutiques Mr. Freedom and Mother Wouldn't Like It in the 1960s. In 1971, he began designing clothes for Karim, already showing
1288-407: The artistic establishment of the time. The military metaphor of an advance guard identifies the artists and writers whose innovations in style, form, and subject-matter challenge the artistic and aesthetic validity of the established forms of art and the literary traditions of their time; thus, the artists who created the anti-novel and Surrealism were ahead of their times. As a stratum of
1344-458: The artistic vanguard oppose high culture and reject the artifice of mass culture , because the avant-garde functionally oppose the dumbing down of society — be it with low culture or with high culture . That in a capitalist society each medium of mass communication is a factory producing artworks, and is not a legitimate artistic medium; therefore, the products of mass culture are kitsch , simulations and simulacra of Art. Walter Benjamin in
1400-418: The arts is, indeed, the most immediate and fastest way" to realise social, political, and economic reforms. In the realm of culture, the artistic experiments of the avant-garde push the aesthetic boundaries of societal norms , such as the disruptions of modernism in poetry, fiction, and drama, painting, music, and architecture, that occurred in the late 19th and in the early 20th centuries. In art history
1456-469: The avant-garde traditions in both the United States and Europe. Among these are Fluxus , Happenings , and Neo-Dada . Brutalist architecture was greatly influenced by an avant-garde movement. Claude Montana Claude Montana (29 June 1947 – 23 February 2024) was a French fashion designer. His company, The House of Montana, founded in 1979, went bankrupt in 1997. He was also nicknamed "King of
1512-637: The brand in the song " Wild Side ". His vintage designs are among the most coveted luxury vintage brands for Generation Z consumers, according to Teen Vogue . In 2019, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts launched the 'Thierry Mugler: Couturissime' exhibition dedicated to him. Since 2019, visual artist Chris Klein , started painting some of Mugler's designs. Mugler was openly gay and a longtime bodybuilder. Following his departure from fashion he became reclusive, went by his first name (Manfred) and began extensive bodybuilding . In 2019, he said "Thierry Mugler"
1568-446: The broad-shouldered, 1940s-derived looks he would become famous for in later years. In 1972, his full-skirted raincoat became a hit. At the age of 24, Mugler moved to Paris. He began designing clothes for Gudule, a Parisian boutique. At 26, he began to design for a variety of large ready-to-wear fashion houses in Paris, Milan, London and Barcelona. In 1973, Mugler created his first personal collection called "Café de Paris". The style of
1624-416: The category of avant-gardists include Elliott Carter , Milton Babbitt , György Ligeti , Witold Lutosławski , and Luciano Berio , since "their modernism was not conceived for the purpose of goading an audience." The 1960s saw a wave of free and avant-garde music in jazz genre, embodied by artists such as Ornette Coleman , Sun Ra , Albert Ayler , Archie Shepp , John Coltrane and Miles Davis . In
1680-512: The collection was both sophisticated and urban. Melka Tréanton, a powerful fashion editor, helped to launch his career. In 1976, she asked him to show his work in Tokyo for an event organized by Shiseido . The 1977 showing of his spring 1978 line displayed a punk influence. In 1978, he opened his first Paris boutique at the Place des Victoires in the 1er Arrondissement and rapidly gained attention as among
1736-487: The collections associated with them had themes, sci-fi and cavewoman themes in the late seventies, celestial themes later, a 60s theme one season, an Africa theme another, a vampire-devil theme the next, and an aquatic theme the next, with ongoing creative motifs that would span multiple collections, like his late-eighties inclusion of garments and accessories modeled after the tailfins and chrome trim of 1950s U.S. automobiles, most recognizably 1959 Cadillacs . Mugler designed
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1792-537: The color and material of each garment rather than trivial details. From 1990 to 1992 he designed haute couture collections for the House of Lanvin , for which he received two consecutive Golden Thimble awards. Despite critical acclaim, Montana's bold designs were financially disastrous for the house, created at a total estimated loss of $ 50 million, and he was ultimately replaced by Dominique Morlotti . In 1999, he designed an affordable line of clothing for women, Montana BLU. It
1848-547: The creative director of MUGLER, Formichetti announced in April 2013 that he and the fashion house would be parting ways. Formichetti left MUGLER to work for the Italian brand Diesel . In December 2013, House of Mugler announced David Koma as the artistic director . In 2016, Mugler created and directed the music video and staging for San Marino 's Eurovision Song Contest entry " I Didn't Know " performed by Turkish singer Serhat . Despite retiring from his brand in 2003, he made
1904-416: The cultural values of contemporary bourgeois society . In the U.S. of the 1960s, the post–WWII changes to American culture and society allowed avant-garde artists to produce works of art that addressed the matters of the day, usually in political and sociologic opposition to the cultural conformity inherent to popular culture and to consumerism as a way of life and as a worldview . In The Theory of
1960-499: The dresses of Viktor Lazlo for hosting Eurovision 1987 . He created the black dress worn by Demi Moore in the 1993 movie Indecent Proposal . Mugler published his first photography book in 1988, Thierry Mugler: Photographer . This was followed by a monograph in 1999, titled Fashion Fetish Fantasy , which assembles photos of his creations. Mugler also directed short films, advertising films and video clips. He regularly designed costumes for musical comedies, concerts, operas and
2016-506: The essay " The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction " (1939) and Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer in the Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947) said that the artifice of mass culture voids the artistic value (the aura ) of a work of art. That the capitalist culture industry (publishing and music, radio and cinema, etc.) continually produces artificial culture for mass consumption, which
2072-500: The exception to design under his name "House of Mugler" for the Met Gala in 2019 and for Kim Kardashian . Getting his inspiration from Sophia Loren in the film Boy on a Dolphin , Mugler envisioned a wet California girl; hence the creation of the "wet couture dress". The American designer Casey Cadwallader was named Mugler's new creative director in December 2017. During the period of
2128-555: The following decade with his 1940s-style shoulders on 1950s-tailored suits amid retrograde Wagnerian showmanship. During the 1980s and 1990s Mugler became an internationally recognized designer, often grouped with his friends Claude Montana and Azzedine Alaïa but known especially for his shapely suits, and his collections garnered much commercial success. Except for a couple of sedate salon presentations in 1986 and 1987 (when he also reduced his shoulder padding), his fashion shows were extravagant affairs held in arena-like environments and
2184-458: The following year for his leather coats and in 1978 was among the most extreme in presenting the broad shoulders that were introduced for the fall of that year, joining Thierry Mugler in showing massively-shouldered retro science-fiction looks at the end of the 1970s, both designers also using the most influential footwear designer of the time, Maud Frizon , for the shoes in their collections. Like Mugler and like Azzedine Alaïa and
2240-672: The fragrance Womanity was released by the House of Mugler. Angel Muse was released in 2015; Angel Nova was released in June 2020. The most recent Angel flanker is Angel Elixir, released in February 2023 with a campaign starring Hunter Schafer . In later years, Mugler's vintage designs saw a significant resurgence among celebrities, including Lady Gaga in the music video for " Telephone ", and Cardi B who worked with Mugler, often wearing his vintage designs on red carpets and music videos, as well as mentioning
2296-566: The general public and led by specialists of the perfumery and oenology world. In 2006, Mugler completed a project for the launch of Tom Tykwer 's film Perfume . In collaboration with the IFF company, Mugler created a box set of fifteen compositions. During 2007, still following the metamorphosis theme, Mugler launched Mirror, Mirror, a collection of five fragrances, created as "perfume-trickery" to "enhance one's presence". Angel and Alien together produce about $ 280 million in sales annually. In 2010,
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2352-430: The lines reminding fashion historian Bill Cunningham of the sculpture of Jean Arp . By fall of 1988, he had moved in most of his garments to a completely natural shoulder while still maintaining a commanding line, now given to a geometric trapeze shaping that extended even to wide-hemmed pants, a silhouette he would focus on through the first half of 1989. At the end of the eighties, he, along with Romeo Gigli and
2408-535: The mediocrity of mass culture , which political disconnection transformed being an artist into "a profession, one of whose aspects is the pretense of overthrowing [the profession of being an artist]." Avant-garde is frequently defined in contrast to arrière-garde , which in its original military sense refers to a rearguard force that protects the advance-guard. The term was less frequently used than "avant-garde" in 20th-century art criticism. The art historians Natalie Adamson and Toby Norris argue that arrière-garde
2464-493: The mid-19th century, as a cultural term, avant-garde identified a genre of art that advocated art-as-politics, art as an aesthetic and political means for realising social change in a society. Since the 20th century, the art term avant-garde identifies a stratum of the Intelligentsia that comprises novelists and writers, artists and architects et al. whose creative perspectives, ideas, and experimental artworks challenge
2520-488: The most extreme of the Fall 1978 broad-shoulder brigade of designers, with a penchant for mid-20th-century sci-fi themes and exaggerated 1940s-50s-style glamour marked by sharply constructed tailoring. He used exclusively Maud Frizon footwear in his late seventies-early eighties women's collections, the most influential shoe designer of the period. At the same time, Mugler launched a fashion collection for men. He would continue into
2576-758: The pandemic, Mugler skipped runways for video shows that were co-created with DIS magazine's spin-off, Torso Solutions. Megan Thee Stallion , Chloe Sevigny , Bella Hadid , and Eartheater were featured in the Mugler Spring 2022 Ready-to-Wear Collection video which ended with a brief homage to the late Mugler. The homage was dancing feature by prima ballerina Maria Kochetkova and vogueing superstar Barbie Swaee. After an almost three year hiatus from runway shows, Mugler returned to an in-person show in Paris FW 2023. The runway featured models Adut Akech , Paloma Elsesser , Eva Herzigova , Ziwe , Arca and Memphy . An image
2632-404: The perfume division open as it was profitable. Mugler left fashion in 2002. When asked about the subject, he said: "Fashion is beautiful, 3-D art on a human being. But it wasn't enough, which is why I went on to create in other ways. For me, it wasn't the right tool anymore. But perfume still interests me". In 2002, Mugler collaborated with the Cirque du Soleil . He directed "Extravaganza", one of
2688-593: The rock music of the 1970s, the "art" descriptor was generally understood to mean "aggressively avant-garde" or "pretentiously progressive". Post-punk artists from the late 1970s rejected traditional rock sensibilities in favor of an avant-garde aesthetic. Whereas the avant-garde has a significant history in 20th-century music, it is more pronounced in theatre and performance art, and often in conjunction with music and sound design innovations, as well as developments in visual media design. There are movements in theatre history that are characterized by their contributions to
2744-519: The scenes of Zumanity , and also created all of the costumes and the identity of the characters in the show. In 2008, the Mugler brand launched Thierry Mugler Beauty, a high-end line of cosmetics. In 2009, Mugler worked as artistic advisor to singer Beyoncé . He created the costumes for her " I Am... World Tour ". In September 2010, Nicola Formichetti was announced to be the Creative Director of
2800-711: The socio-cultural functions of avant-garde art trace from Dada (1915–1920s) through the Situationist International (1957–1972) to the postmodernism of the American Language poets (1960s–1970s). The French military term avant-garde (advanced guard) identified a reconnaissance unit who scouted the terrain ahead of the main force of the army. In 19th-century French politics, the term avant-garde (vanguard) identified Left-wing political reformists who agitated for radical political change in French society. In
2856-525: The theatre (including Macbeth for the Comédie Française ). He worked with Robert Altman and George Michael (he directed the video for Michael's " Too Funky " in 1992). He also directed the first advertising film for one of his fragrances, Alien. In 1990, Clarins acquired a 34 percent share in Thierry Mugler Couture when it signed a deal to produce the brand's fragrances. At the request of
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#17330861981402912-414: Was a label and a brand, and as such he wanted to move on to other things. Mugler had several accidents that changed his appearance. His nose was destroyed in a jeep crash. A motorcycle accident involved steel cables which saw Mugler have a piece of metal removed from his leg. In an interview with Interview magazine, Mugler stated, "I asked another surgeon if he could do some things to my chin, and then I
2968-545: Was happy to get the bloody anesthesia . He actually took a piece of bone from my hip and put it on my chin, so I don't have any plastic or silicone. It's all bones. I wanted my face to represent progress, because after years of being a thin, charming dancer, I wanted to be a warrior. I've done so much in my life. I've fought so much. I'm a superhero, so it's normal to have the face of one." Mugler died of natural causes at his residence in Vincennes near Paris, on 23 January 2022, at
3024-495: Was inspired by his favorite themes but modified to fit the style of sportswear and citywear. On 21 July 1993, Montana married model Wallis Franken. It was a marriage of convenience and friendship, as Montana was openly homosexual . He wanted to appear more marketable to buyers, and she was his best choice for this purpose. They were the same age and had been friends for 18 years; she also had served as his muse for many of his fashion innovations. Wallis already had two daughters and
3080-513: Was one of the first designers to champion diversity in his runway shows, which often tackled racism and ageism , and incorporated non-traditional models such as drag queens , porn stars , and transgender women. In 2002, he retired from the brand, and returned in 2013 as the creative adviser. At the beginning of his career he designed signature looks for Michael Jackson , Madonna , Grace Jones , Duran Duran , Viktor Lazlo , David Bowie and Diana Ross ; most notably Demi Moore 's dress from
3136-404: Was shown on an extra-large TV screen flanked by a staircase in the middle of the runway fusing digital with IRL. Mugler's first perfume appeared in 1992 and was called " Angel ". It contains a combination of praline and chocolate mixed with a strong accord of patchouli . It would be a part of a new fragrance type called gourmand . The Angel bottle, in the shape of a faceted star, was created by
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