Thierry Mugler
Claude Bitton's decision to bring a fairly new Thierry Mugler line to Toronto in the 70's was intuitive. Claude knew that if he was going to make Toronto bigger than Montreal in the fashion industry he would have to bring something exciting and unlike any other with him.
Thierry Mugler was born in Strasbourg, France in 1948. Thierry began training as a ballet dancer but found that his love was for photography and fashion design. He spent most of his spare time creating clothes for his friends when he wasn’t dancing. In 1970, Mugler moved to Paris and got his first job working as a window-dresser. He continued to design clothing in his spare time and launched his first line called Café de Paris in 1973. He launched his own women’s and men’s line in 1975 and 1978 respectively.
Thierry used solid colours for his creations, he disliked prints. Wide and padded shoulders were a constant theme to his shirts and jackets. He was inspired very much by the people of the film “Noir” and by the insect kingdom. The 1990’s proved to be the nail in the coffin for Thierry Mugler's fashion house. It wasn't until 1997 when he partnered with Clarins and introduced “Angel” and "A-Men" that Thierry saw success again. To date Thierry Mugler has produced 17 different fragrances for men and women collectively.
The Thierry Mugler Company closed their couture division in 2003 and opened it again for the Winter 2008 collection. Currently they are best known for their perfume and have a line of eye-wear glasses. Thierry has since continued exhibiting his love of fashion in the form of photography and published books. Thierry Mugler (1988) and Fashion Fetish Fantasy (1998) give insight into his fashion designs, while his photography has been criticized for its Stalinist propaganda look. Mugler added director to his resume in 1992 with George Michael’s "Too Funky." The video featured several models including Tyra Banks and Linda Evangelilsta in his creations being directed by George himself.
Most recently, Mugler took on the role of designing and outfitting Beyonce Knowles' I am Sasha Fierce world tour. He was selected by Beyonce herself after she saw his work at the "Superheroes" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2008. In addition to his clothing design duties, Mugler will design the show, in particular three of Beyonce's numbers as well as the finale. This will include everything from choreography to lighting.
Both Claude Bitton and Thierry Mugler share many commonalities, perhaps this was a factor in why Thierry's line was chosen by Claude to come to Canada. They both worked their way up from the bottom and have a strong love for other arts in addition to fashion. Claude Bitton is an avid collector of Persian rugs, Jewish paintings and fine art, while Thierry continues to have exhibits of his work in museums as well as becoming a published author and photographer. To complement the fragrance line, a range of Mugler color cosmetics, "Dare the Metamorphosis", was launched in early 2008, and is currently available at select stores and the Mugler website