In November 2022, the exhibition halls of the Brooklyn Museum hosted the final stop of “Thierry Mugler: Couturissime,” an assembly of archival fashion by the late designer, whose full name was Manfred Thierry Mugler. Hundreds of mannequins bedecked in couture were posed dramatically to evoke the theatrical attitude of Mugler’s visionary runway presentations of the 1980s and ’90s. Even among these striking creations, a shocking display of color stood out in the form of the Arc en Ciel (Rainbow) striped jacket from Spring/Summer 1990.
Mugler deftly used color throughout his prolific career, but this jacket is in a chromatic league of its own. Vivid hues flow over the body like water, emphasizing the cinched waist and sculpted shoulders — Mugler’s signature silhouette. And instead of his typical symmetrical hip, the hem swoops organically around the body, further accentuating the fluid movement of the jacket’s rainbow stripes. “It’s a stunning cascade of colors,” says Lauren Stone, of Lord of Luxury Vintage, who is offering the piece on 1stDibs. “Each button is precisely matched to the color beneath it, in keeping with Mugler’s remarkable attention to detail.”
Mugler was revered for his construction of commanding suits. Many, like the Arc en Ciel, were crafted from fine wool, but nothing was off-limits. Along with standard fabrics like velvet, silk and leather, he pushed the boundaries of avant-garde couture by engineering seductive silhouettes from such unconventional materials as rubber car tires and motorcycle handlebars.
As an openly gay designer in an era rife with stigma, Mugler flouted societal norms in the pursuit of beauty and joy, qualities the rainbow jacket succinctly represents. So, it’s unsurprising that his rainbow designs have been embraced by prominent figures in the queer community, like Laverne Cox (a noted Mugler collector), Katy Perry and Sasha Velour, the famous drag artist and past winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The lasting legacy of Mugler’s designs is the attitude and confidence they transfer to the wearer. “He knew how to create clothes that made people feel like the most powerful version of themselves,” says Stone. “It’s why his designs remain so iconic today.”
