While Mugler designer Casey Cadwallader has been seriously warming up to fashion films during the pandemic, the French house plans to return to the Paris runways on January 26th – in an amped-up fashion.
The launch is set for 8pm on January 26th at La Villette, a huge cultural complex on the northeastern edge of Paris where Cadwallader will parade a see-now, buy-now collection that is billed as Fall 2023.
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The event falls on the tail end of Paris Fashion Week, which runs from January 23-26 this season and usually accumulates some ready-to-wear events at both ends of the schedule.
Details of the show’s content and format are under wraps, but Mugler described it as a “new concept” and “an immersive experience across all channels, and in front of a live audience.”
Mugler’s last live show was in the fall of 2020.
During the quarantine, Cadwallader created three fast films full of special effects; fierce nude fashion and cameos from the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Chloë Sevigny, Hunter Schafer and Shalom Harlow.
The designer marveled at how the film offered him a tool for wider consumer engagement, and at the end of the trilogy expressed his reluctance to “return to a simple runway show.”
“It’s not a classic return to the catwalk,” hinted Pascal Conte-Jodra, director of Mugler fashion, noting that his films have garnered millions of views, and the latest one more than 15 million across all channels. “We’ve learned how to entertain, we’ve learned how to surprise, we’ve learned how to attract attention and please our audience.…You can trust Casey to cook up something unexpected.…At Mugler, we take risks.”
He also hinted at a runway event on a “completely different scale than what we’ve done in the past” and one with the end customer in mind.
“Mugler has always been a popular brand and we didn’t want to hold a show just for the lucky few,” he added.
This will be the first time Mugler will present a collection in January, and Conte-Jodra said it will include winter elements and more spring items, plus a few product categories that are still under wraps.
The house usually presents two collections a year, and plans to return to the rtw fashion schedule in the fall and develop its new concept.
Mugler’s return to IRL fashion shows comes at a tumultuous time for the brand, which is currently experiencing triple-digit growth and “very strong sales” in its online store and select retail partners, the executive said.
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