It was out with the epaulets and military insignia of Spring and in with nipple rings at Mugler’s presentation today. The punkish piercings of an archival Thierry Mugler dress caught designer David Koma’s attention for Pre-Fall. Affixed with metal hoops and spikes, the black leather number it inspired is strictly dominatrix material; only the bravest of young starlets would go up against the fashion police wearing it.
Other declinations of the look, however—everything from tailored jackets and pants on down to chunky fisherman’s sweaters threaded with silver metal loops—will prove safer to wear. That’s intentionally so. As the Mugler business grows (an e-commerce launch and a new Paris store are both in the works for 2016), Koma is pushing further into daywear, or at least non–red carpet attire. The trick is: How to maintain the Mugler m.o. while diversifying? Faded blue jeans, though trending elsewhere, looked somewhat out of their element in the lineup, as did the tees and sweatshirts that didn’t make the lookbook. But fuzzy angora sweaterdresses worn with over-the-knee stretch denim boots captured the sexual predator vibes that form the essence of the Mugler aesthetic. The same goes for a body-con dress in marled gray stretch with raised seams intended to resemble body scarification.
