by Mark Holgate

At the height of Thierry Mugler’s career in the 1980s, he never met a Superwoman he didn’t like. The Strasbourg-born designer pioneered a strong, sculptural, sci-fi silhouette by encasing his heroine in armor-tough suits and molded evening dresses—Paris chic by way of Planet Krypton. He then staged the wildest runway shows, where stars and supermodels alike cavorted in metallic robotica, fringed fetish leather, and corsets styled to look like motorbikes, complete with wing mirrors. The image of the house might have been one of tongue-in-cheek campy excess—he put Diana Ross, Julie Newmar, and the pneumatic New York club queen Dianne Brill on the catwalk; need I say more?—but strip the hoopla away, and his scalpel-sharp tailoring skills reveal themselves to be beyond compare. His look has been heavily referenced this fall (techno-crepe cocktail dresses with enforced curves; sharp-shouldered, whittle-waist jackets; gleaming space-age jewelry), so it’s perfect timing that Mugler is back. Well, the label at least: Thierry Mugler Edition, under the direction of Rosemary Rodriguez, who worked with the designer back in the day, is in charge of an exclusive capsule collection launching in spring that neatly coincides with the arrival of Naomi Watts as the face of the Mugler scent Angel. As for Mugler himself, he now busies himself designing theater costumes. On the eve of the label’s return, the gutsy gals who wore, and worked, Mugler to perfection reveal why they loved it so much.

Nadja Auermann, model
For me, Thierry Mugler’s clothes were like architecture for the body. They gave you the best shape you ever had, a hyperfeminine body with strong shoulders, a tiny waist, and curvy hips. He liked casting me in his shows because I looked like his ideal of the tall, heroic woman, the Amazonian type. Also, he liked to work with me because I could withstand the torture of some of his more extreme runway looks. We both thought the same way—if you wear a look, you go with it all the way. Once, I was in a gold robotic suit that I had to be sewn into, and I wore it for about half an hour, and I could feel my circulation was getting blocked. I walked in the show, and all I could think was, Oh, my hips are going numb! But I am nearly at the end of the runway; I can make it! I was thrilled when I was asked to be in George Michael’s video for “Too Funky” that Thierry designed and directed. I had to stand under a shower in a latex lace dress for ages. It looked great on film, but the water was freezing cold. Doing that video made me so much more visible. I was in Los Angeles not long after I filmed it, and I was walking down the street when this guy came up to me from behind and said, “You’re Nadja Auermann!” He’d been able to recognize me from the back, all because I’d been in that video.

Naomi Watts, actress
I was given a Mugler suit back in 1992 by a friend. I loved it, but really I was too young for it; it wore me rather than me wearing it. Frankly, I didn’t have the confidence to carry it off. But I wore one of his dresses [a goddess gown of white pleated silk chiffon] from the house archive to the Costume Institute Gala at the Met, and it was an amazing—and completely different—experience. I felt more womanly than I have ever done before. The dress was perfect from every angle. It was exquisite because it was so well thought out. That night so many younger designers told me how much they loved it. Zac Posen kept saying, “You’re in Thierry Mugler!”

Ivana Trump, businesswoman
I always liked his power suits and his use of color. He adored color, and so did I—red, cobalt, yellow—and, of course, he also did black so brilliantly. I loved his silhouette. His jackets, with their peplum waists, did wonders for a woman’s shape. I wore his suits all the time—to business meetings, speaking engagements, even on nights out. His pantsuits were also brilliant to travel in. I did model for Thierry once; I opened and closed one of his Paris runway shows. He was always the consummate showman, so the experience was terrifying but fun. Clearly, I am thrilled that Mugler is back!