Thierry Mugler @ MBAM

Here are some photos taken on a recent visit to the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, where Thierry Mugler: Couturissime premieres until September 8, 2019. The show will be staged in Rotterdam and Munich after its run here.

New York's Met and London's V & A Museum both approached Mugler for a retrospective, but the artist decided that the MBAM's vision for the show best matched his own sensibilities. Mugler is familiar with Montreal because of his work developing costumes for the Cirque du Soleil. The display of 150 mannequins is augmented by dazzling light shows as well as videos that enhance the viewer's experience. Montreal is home to several companies specializing in light technology, and their talent adds another dimension to the exhibition.

The first room is devoted to costumes Mugler designed for a French production of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth's dress weighed more than sixty pounds. Another room presents old-style Hollywood glamour, and yet another focuses on outrageous clothing he designed for performers like Beyoncé, Madonna and Cardi B. The most impressive exhibit is dedicated to the theme of "metamorphosis", and many of these costumes borrow imagery from insects and aquatic animals. The last of the seven or eight rooms showcases the work of ten contemporary Montreal fashion designers. Finally there is a workshop area where visitors can experiment with various hands-on skills like millinery and mask-making, which I hope to see on my next visit.

The signage for the Mugler show proposes that his designs celebrate feminine power, but some viewers may well feel that the clothes hyper-sexualize the wearer. This clothing brings to mind the dominatrix, not the chairman of the board.

A chimera, with the headpiece of a bird's wings, the carapace of
a crustacean, and the lower body of a fish.

Still, the imagination and craftsmanship of these astonishing designs will impress any visitor. For more information about Thierry Mugler: Couturissime, please visit the museum's website.