Magic Man

Elusive fashion and beauty maestro Thierry Mugler grants April Long a rare interview, previewing his next maverick scent and glancing back at his fantastical past

- April Long

When Manfred Thierry Mugler enters a room, the atmosphere shifts. Not only because, seam burstingly be muscled and mischievously grinning, he’s impossible to miss, but because he’s a walking icon—a man whose impact on the clothes we wear, and the way we smell, cannot be overstated. The French designer (he now prefers to go by Manfred) founded his eponymous label in 1974 and was a fashion-world superstar throughout the ’80s and ’90s: The extreme shoulders and wasp waists of his outlandish, intricately crafted creations reshaped the female silhouette. He was the first—pre-McQueen, pre–Victoria’s Secret—to inject spectacle and fantasy into his runway shows, supe-studded extravaganzas at which the likes of Naomi, Linda, and Claudia ruled the catwalk in diamanté bustiers and black vinyl, insect-inspired suits. He was also a pioneer in image and myth-making, trailblazing the practice of transporting models to far-flung locations for lavish, visually striking campaign shoots. Since stepping away from the fashion side of his label in 2003, Mugler has proven to be a creative polymath: conceptualizing characters and designing costumes for Cirque du Soleil; masterminding the Mugler Follies cabaret in Paris; serving as artistic consultant for Beyoncé’s 2009 “I Am…” tour; and directing a massive, extraterrestrial-themed modern ballet, The Wyld—Not of This World, which debuted in 2014 and ran for 500 performances over two years in the world’s largest theater in Berlin. “What a life!” he says.