Daily Front Row

2011 January 20

Gaga for Nicola! Formichetti Debuts at Thierry Mugler

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(PARIS) “What Nicola and Romain just produced embraces what previously existed at the house of Mugler. It wasn’t feminine at all, but there was that fantasy. And I think there are a lot of guys that want to embrace a fantasy,” said stylist Catherine Baba after the presentation and bows of new Thierry Mugler creative director Nicola Formichetti and the house’s menswear designer, Romain Kremer.

Despite the ever-increasing fervour and conjecture that Lady Gaga would sit front and center to support her close friend and stylist, her presence was certainly felt in the pounding house remix, an extract from her forthcoming album Born This Way, as well as the statement of support included in the collections’ press release found on every seat. The singer was quoted as saying, “blood pumps through Nicola’s veins like perfume and cigarettes. His brain throbs with misfit royalty, glamour as punk survival, attitude as liberation, style as revolution…”

Models wore extremely tailored suits in the Mugler colors--dark blue and bright orange. Latex placements on arms and over their heads, as well as floating veils and long apron-like trousers, took on “superhuman” figures.

Talking to The Daily after the show, Formichetti said, “I went through Thierry Mugler’s archive and I just picked things that I really loved-–that I felt really 'wow.' I put them in my office and I started to do a styling session-–so you have a jacket from ’92, an accessory from ’97. It was really abstract. I went with my feelings. It was very him, but it was very me, in a way.”

“When the CEO Joël [Palix], called me, I was like 'Oh my God, I won’t be able to do that!'" continued Formichetti. "Because to me, Mr. Mugler was like a fashion god. Then I started reading his biography, and like me, he never studied fashion, like me. He was always kind of an outsider, like me. He was a punk. And he loved underground meets super glamour. And I started feeling like, okay, maybe I should just start thinking about what he did before.”

Referring about the tattooed model Rick Genest, also known as "Rico"," who was featured in the runway show and in a video backdrop to the presentation, Formichetti said, “I wanted to show something more inside. That’s why there was a bit of skin, showing and not showing, an ambiguity, boys that took their beauty to another kind of level.” Formichetti remained very tight-lipped when asked about his forthcoming womenswear presentation for the house of Mugler. All he offered? “Oh my God. Women’s is going to be something!”

An exclusive web-only film featuring the Lady Gaga show soundtrack accompanying images of model Rico, along with runway images, can be seen starting January 20 on mugler.com.
D'ARCY FLUECK