The house of Mugler has a new man—and, it would seem, a new superstar fan.
How do you get a superstar like Cardi B to attend your first-ever fashion show? Apparently, you start trading emails with her team, and just ask.
That’s exactly what happened on Wednesday morning, when the pop singer turned up at the intimate fashion show for Casey Cadwallader’s debut at the house of Mugler.
Never heard of Casey? Well, you’re about to. The American designer took the reins at Mugler in December, after stints at Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez and Acne Studios. He takes over a house that had its heyday in the 1980s, when designer Thierry Mugler gained fame for fetishistic designs and severe, sculptural silhouettes, featuring such odd embellishments as car fins, and nuts and bolts.
Cadwallader’s 2018 take was respectful, but less severe--more about freeing the body than trying to mold it into some unreasonable ideal. To that end, the foundation for the collection was the kind of stretchy Spandex bike shorts made famous by Kendall, Kylie and Kim Kardashian, and worn on Wednesday by Cardi in the front row.
He added subtle corsetry, hook-and-eye, and lacing details, tapping into the house’s inherent sexiness, but in the context not of Mugler's severe minidresses, but instead free-floating parachute tops, ballooning nylon dresses, crepe trousers, dresses and relaxed tailored jackets, all of which looked like they would allow a girl to indulge in some lunch.
One of the star pieces, an uber cool PVC trench coat filled with fabric remnants, plastic bags, chain clippings, jewelry, cigarette butts, screws and broken glass bits, paid homage to Mugler’s love of odd materials. Meanwhile, marbleized Latex fabric had a futuristic vibe, fashioned into wet-look skirts and dresses that enhanced every female curve, as did the spiraling seams of rad-looking denim trousers that you don’t need to be a star to pull off.
Still, here’s hoping Cardi might give the new American designer in Paris some love when she makes her first televised awards show performance since the birth of her child, taking the stage at the American Music Awards on Oct. 9.
