Thierry Mugler is a French fashion designer and creator of several perfumes. He was born in Strasbourg, on 21st December, 1948. At the age of 14 he joined the ballet corps for the Rhin Opera. This opened the doors to theatre for him, where he discovered lighting effects, as well as both costume design and stage direction, and at the same time he began taking classes in interior design at the Strasbourg School of Decorative Art.
At the age of 24, Mugler decided to go and live in Paris, where he began designing clothes for a small, trendy Parisian boutique. Two years later he was working as a freelance designer, and began to work for a variety of large ready-to-wear fashion houses in Paris, Milan, London and Barcelona.
Thierry Mugler created his first personal collection called 'Cafe de Paris' in 1973. The style of the collection was both sophisticated and urban, and went against the trends of the time. It embodied a return to the image of a sexy, Parisian woman, stylish, enticing and confident.
He opened his first Paris boutique in 1978, and at the same time launched a menswear collection, which was reworked classical masculinity, giving it a definitive modern style. During the 1980s and 1990's Thierry Mugler became an internationally recognized designer, completing his first 'haute couture' collection in 1992.
In 1988, he published first photography book called 'Thierry Mugler, Photographe', which was filled with evidence of Mugler's taste for travel and adventure. This first book was followed by a monograph at the end of the nineties called 'Fashion, Fetish, Fantasy', containing photographs of his most extraordinary creations. All of the designs were worn by his models and celebrity friends. He also started directing short advertising films, and video clips, also regularly designing costumes for musical comedies, concerts, operas and the threatre. He created all of the costumes and the identity of the characters for 'Extravaganza',as well as directing one of the scenes, a show which ran for several years in Las Vegas.
Thierry Mugler's first perfume was launched in 1992, and was called 'Angel'. This perfume opened a new trend with its combination of praline and chocolate-derived sweetness mixed with a strong accent of patchouli. Thierry Mugler wanted to design a perfume which reminded him the time he spent at childhood fairgrounds and candyfloss. It was also the first oriental gourmand perfume and appeared in an unprecedented colour for a women's fragrance. The beautiful bottle resembled a dazzling star cut from the night sky, and was created by the master glassmakers, Brosse.
This first perfume was soon followed by on called A*Men, and in 2005, Alien was created. The second major Thierry Mugler fragrance, inspired by a solar world, filled with hope, serenity and light. The shape of the bottle was inspired by an amethyst and intended to symbolize calmness and serenity. Also in this year Thierry Mugler launched the 'Thierry Mugler Perfume Workshops', which are open to the public and led by specialists of the perfumery world. The goal of these workshops is to convey the art and know-how of the industry along with the craftmanship of making perfume.
A year later Thierry Mugler completed a project for the launch of Tom Tykwer's film 'Perfume', and created a box of fifteen compositions, available only by subscription and were purchased by perfume afficionados. Following this, he experimented with the extract of his 'Angel' fragrance, and 'Mirror, Mirror' was launched, a collection of five fragrances, created as 'perfume-trickery'. The perfumers were given free rein with their imaginations, to interpret and metamorphosise their creations. The idea being like mirrors, that these fragrances would elicit singular emotions.
In 2008 Thierry Mugler launched 'Thierry Mugler Beauty', a high-end line of cosmetics. This too was designed around the idea of 'Metamorphosis', where women can create their own look, expertly-achieved.
A year later Thierry Mugler, aged all three of his creations, Angel, Alien and A*Men in wooden casks to create 'Perfume Liqueurs'. This was soon followed by the launch of the web site 'womanity.com', a virtual space for expression and exchange on feminine identity, where visitors share their ideas on what it means to be a woman today. This coinsided with the launch of his newest fragrance also called 'Womanity'. This perfum was a celebration of the diversity and styles of women, representing the invisible link that binds all women together.
Finaly In 2010 he changed the brand name to 'Mugler', removing the first name, launching the brand's first menswear collection in January, the following year.
