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The fashion industry, much like Broadway, loves a revival. The latest label to rise from the ashes: Thierry Mugler. In the late Eighties and early Nineties, Mugler made a name for himself designing insect-inspired dresses and bustiers with handlebars; staging over-the-top runway shows that became the basis for George Michael’s “Too Funky” video; and creating Angel, the hit fragrance containing chocolate notes. By the turn of the millennium, however, Mugler’s fierce style had faded from fashion, and in 2003 parent company Groupe Clarins shuttered his clothing line. Now Mugler’s aesthetic is receiving attention once again, with quite a few young designers citing him as an influence and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute including many of his pieces in its most recent show, “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy.” Evidently that exposure was enough to convince Clarins that the brand deserved another shot, so, during Paris Couture Week in July, it debuted Thierry Mugler Edition, a collection of ready-to-wear. Mugler isn’t designing the line, but he did help artistic director Rosemary Rodriguez pick archive pieces to inform her clothes, which are far tamer than the originals. “Sometimes the image we have of his work is a bit caricatured,” Rodriguez told Women’s Wear Daily, W’s sister publication. “This was an opportunity to discover other facets.”

Photo: Thierry Mugler/WWD Archive