Guided Tour
1. Thierry Mugler: Couturissime
A world premiere in Montreal, Thierry Mugler: Couturissime showcases 150 outfits - almost all of which has never been exhibited before - in addition to accessories, stage costumes, videos and other types of footage, archival mterial, rarely seen sketches, as well as some 100 invaluable prints by some of fashion's leading photographers. This project is the result of skilful restorations and original research.
Mugler is the embodiment of a key moment in French fashion history, when the Jeunes Créateurs put Paris back in competition with New York's cool and Milan's expertise. The Chambre syndicale de la haute couture opened its doors wide and let in designers, including Mugler. President François Mitterrand recognized fashion as a "major art." Paris reclaimed its position as the world capital of couture.
"I like to say that Thierry Mugler designs are for a better, a happier future," declared the couturier with a postmodern aesthetic. Often described as having a futuristic bent, he experimented with avant-garde techniques and materials - including glass, Plexiglas, PVC, faux fur, vinyl, latex and chrome - inside his high-tech, "industrial couture" laboratoryateliers. His fantasy-tinged architectural style and bold silhouettes have made their mark on the history of fashion.
To this day, Mugler continues to influence an entirely new generation of couturiers. His austere, superheroinesshouldered garments and corseted waistlines give the exquisite, powerful, sensual woman her look. His imagination alternately conjures up Hollywood glamour, dreams, the animal kingdom, eroticism and science fiction.
Mugler engaged in multiple collaborations and worked with interior designer Andrée Putman for his boutiques. His creations were photographed by the biggest names in the field, including Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, Ellen von Unwerth, Lillian Bassman, Herb Ritts, David LaChapelle, Pierre et Gilles and Sarah Moon. Mugler directed the iconic music video for George Michael's song "Too Funky," as well as short films with actors Isabelle Huppert and Juliette Binoche. He was the first to stage fashion shows - the most spectacular of the day - with famous supermodels. He created the costumes of the Comédie Française's production of Shakespeare's Macbeth and Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity. He also produced variety shows. And he has dressed a myriad of celebrities, including Diana Ross, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Liza Minnelli, Diane Dufresne, Céline Dion, Beyoncé and Cardi B.
This exhibition was conceived, produced and put on tour by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Maison Mugler and Groupe Clarins, which restored the designer's heritage couture. In operatic fashion, these galleries showcase the multiple worlds of a visionary couturier, director, photographer, perfumer and dancer. Let the curtain rise!
2- Macbeth and the Scottish Lady
On the July 6, 1985 opening night of the Festival d'Avignon, the troup of the Comédie-Française took to the open-air stage of the Palais des Papes' Cour d'honneur, where the audience was about to see a new production of William Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth. First performed in , the dark tragedy recounts the story of Macbeth, a victorious military commancer in the Scotland of medieval times. Three witches who cross his path predict that he will become king. Consumed by the prophecy, along with his wife, Lady Macbeth, he instigates a series of crimes in order to usurp, along with his wife, Lady Macbeth, he instigates a series of crimes in order to usurp the throne; in the end, he will lose both his sanity and his life.
Given the biggest budget in the history of the Comédie-Française since it was founded in 1680, Mugler designed over seventy costumes, as well as accessories for the play. As the designer has said, "The actors were all in magnificent armour and breastplates, doublets that were a musculature, leather and metal, while underneath they were vulnerable." Made in the Paris institution's workshops, this exhibition offers a very special opportunity to see them. Directed by Jean-Pierre Vincentg, Macbeth had a seven-night run outdoors, and was a later presented in Paris.
Truly a golden cage, with its impressive self-supporting metal skeleton, the gown of the formidable Lady Macbeth opened to vividly reveal the deposed queen clothed in a simple chiffon one, bereft of her high platform shoes. Encased in huge pleated satin ruffs reminiscent of the blocks of guillotines, the three witches had shaved heads - traditionally, the ultimate punishement and humiliation for a woman. Their sublime, Renaissannce-style gowns were torn and charred, latex appliqués creating the burnt effect of the blazing bundles of sticks in their trail.
The Incandescence of Lady Macbeth was created by the multidisciplinary artist Michel Lemieux for 4D Art, Montreal. In this performance of Macbeth, the sleepwalking queen, increasingly atricken with feelings of remorse, is haunted by the blood she imagines on her hands; she ultimately descends slowly into madness.
Guided Tour
1. Thierry Mugler: Couturissime
A world premiere in Montreal, Thierry Mugler: Couturissime showcases 150 outfits - almost all of which has never been exhibited before - in addition to accessories, stage costumes, videos and other types of footage, archival mterial, rarely seen sketches, as well as some 100 invaluable prints by some of fashion's leading photographers. This project is the result of skilful restorations and original research.
Mugler is the embodiment of a key moment in French fashion history, when the Jeunes Créateurs put Paris back in competition with New York's cool and Milan's expertise. The Chambre syndicale de la haute couture opened its doors wide and let in designers, including Mugler. President François Mitterrand recognized fashion as a "major art." Paris reclaimed its position as the world capital of couture.
"I like to say that Thierry Mugler designs are for a better, a happier future," declared the couturier with a postmodern aesthetic. Often described as having a futuristic bent, he experimented with avant-garde techniques and materials - including glass, Plexiglas, PVC, faux fur, vinyl, latex and chrome - inside his high-tech, "industrial couture" laboratoryateliers. His fantasy-tinged architectural style and bold silhouettes have made their mark on the history of fashion.
To this day, Mugler continues to influence an entirely new generation of couturiers. His austere, superheroinesshouldered garments and corseted waistlines give the exquisite, powerful, sensual woman her look. His imagination alternately conjures up Hollywood glamour, dreams, the animal kingdom, eroticism and science fiction.
Mugler engaged in multiple collaborations and worked with interior designer Andrée Putman for his boutiques. His creations were photographed by the biggest names in the field, including Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, Ellen von Unwerth, Lillian Bassman, Herb Ritts, David LaChapelle, Pierre et Gilles and Sarah Moon. Mugler directed the iconic music video for George Michael's song "Too Funky," as well as short films with actors Isabelle Huppert and Juliette Binoche. He was the first to stage fashion shows - the most spectacular of the day - with famous supermodels. He created the costumes of the Comédie Française's production of Shakespeare's Macbeth and Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity. He also produced variety shows. And he has dressed a myriad of celebrities, including Diana Ross, David Bowie, Lady Gaga, Liza Minnelli, Diane Dufresne, Céline Dion, Beyoncé and Cardi B.
This exhibition was conceived, produced and put on tour by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Maison Mugler and Groupe Clarins, which restored the designer's heritage couture. In operatic fashion, these galleries showcase the multiple worlds of a visionary couturier, director, photographer, perfumer and dancer. Let the curtain rise!
2- Macbeth and the Scottish Lady
On the July 6, 1985 opening night of the Festival d'Avignon, the troup of the Comédie-Française took to the open-air stage of the Palais des Papes' Cour d'honneur, where the audience was about to see a new production of William Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth. First performed in , the dark tragedy recounts the story of Macbeth, a victorious military commancer in the Scotland of medieval times. Three witches who cross his path predict that he will become king. Consumed by the prophecy, along with his wife, Lady Macbeth, he instigates a series of crimes in order to usurp, along with his wife, Lady Macbeth, he instigates a series of crimes in order to usurp the throne; in the end, he will lose both his sanity and his life.
Given the biggest budget in the history of the Comédie-Française since it was founded in 1680, Mugler designed over seventy costumes, as well as accessories for the play. As the designer has said, "The actors were all in magnificent armour and breastplates, doublets that were a musculature, leather and metal, while underneath they were vulnerable." Made in the Paris institution's workshops, this exhibition offers a very special opportunity to see them. Directed by Jean-Pierre Vincentg, Macbeth had a seven-night run outdoors, and was a later presented in Paris.
Truly a golden cage, with its impressive self-supporting metal skeleton, the gown of the formidable Lady Macbeth opened to vividly reveal the deposed queen clothed in a simple chiffon one, bereft of her high platform shoes. Encased in huge pleated satin ruffs reminiscent of the blocks of guillotines, the three witches had shaved heads - traditionally, the ultimate punishement and humiliation for a woman. Their sublime, Renaissannce-style gowns were torn and charred, latex appliqués creating the burnt effect of the blazing bundles of sticks in their trail.
The Incandescence of Lady Macbeth was created by the multidisciplinary artist Michel Lemieux for 4D Art, Montreal. In this performance of Macbeth, the sleepwalking queen, increasingly atricken with feelings of remorse, is haunted by the blood she imagines on her hands; she ultimately descends slowly into madness.