The French icon, known for his theatrical outfits and sharp tailoring, died of natural causes at the age of 73, his agent told AFP. After the news broke, a slew of his fashion muses and celebrity friends paid tribute on social media.

Beyoncé honoured the designer with a special collage on her website showcasing his many designs for the chanteuse which she captioned, “Rest in Peace, Thierry Mugler”. The likes of Bella Hadid, Irina Shayk and Kourtney Kardashian also paid their respects on Instagram. “Thierry Mugler was a defining force in fashion. Even his archive collection today seems futuristic,” wrote actress and model Tracey Ellis Ross, who walked in his show in 1991. Here we celebrate a unique talent.

1. Followed his true passion

The maestro was born in 1948 in Strasbourg, France, where he was known as a talented ballet dancer with the Ballet du Rhin that he joined at the age of 14. After studying interior design at the Strasbourg School of Decorative Arts, the young Mugler moved to Paris to pursue his dream of designing clothes. In 1971, he began working for brands like Karim and Gudule.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but fashion took off for me very quickly in Paris, as soon as I showed my sketches,” he told Women's Wear Daily.

Deeply rooted in Parisian silhouettes, Mugler began showcasing his little black suit, the trench coat, the black dress and the siren dress that quickly became all the rage. But, when asked if he was a fashion designer, he would deny it. “I never say I’m a fashion designer. I’ve always felt like a director, and the clothes I did were a direction of the everyday,” he told Interview in 2019.

It’s true that he didn’t limit himself to only fashion design. In 1992, the multihyphenate launched his renowned fragrance Angel that Elle Magazine in 2017 said, “created an entirely new olfactory genre dubbed ‘gourmand’”. Angel went on to become one of the world’s bestselling perfumes in history.

“Fashion is beautiful, 3D art on a human being. But it wasn’t enough, which is why I went on to create in other ways,” he told Elle, when asked why he’d stopped designing for his eponymous brand in 2003.

After stepping down, Mugler was hired to conceptualise characters and design costumes for Cirque du Soleil and after that he directed a massive, extra-terrestrial-themed modern ballet, The Wyld – Not of This World, in 2014, which ran for 500 performances over two years in Berlin.

The designer made a comeback on the runway in 2010 and has an ongoing exhibition titled “Thierry Mugler: Couturissime” at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris that will run till this April – a testament to his genius.

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2. Avant-garde designs and theatrical shows

“I think they need me badly. [Laughs] I think now it’s the money who tells the artist what to do – it’s not the artist who tells the money what to do,” he told Elle Magazine unabashedly once, in 2017.

During his decades-long career, Mugler was responsible for starting the body-conscious trend of the early 70s and 80s that later intersected with surrealism, sci-fi (his popular 90s motorcycle bustier) and fetishism. But his designs were also known to borrow from 1940s glamour and its classic construction, like his broad-shouldered looks that were elevated further by his penchant for dramatic flair, as seen in the celebrity casts of his fashion shows. Supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss were regulars on his stage, having the time of their lives.

In 1995, he delivered his most-talked about fashion show: the Cirque d’Hiver show that marked his 20th anniversary in the business and that Vogue used to close its “25 Most Unforgettable Runway Shows of the 90s” list. In 2019, the fashion legend spoke to his friend and veteran actress Tippi Hedren about his career and offered some words of wisdom, saying, “Something I say to young people is, ‘Be clear what you want to say. Make sure that people get it’.”

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3. Celebrity fans and pop culture impact

Mugler’s designs enjoyed a comeback during the last decade when they were rediscovered and reinterpreted by a new generation of women who loved his eccentric yet powerful style. Singer and rapper Cardi B wore his Oyster dress to the 2019 Grammys, while in the same year Mugler commissioned Kim Kardashian’s “wet look” Met Gala dress that went viral.

The acclaim and its cultural impact was nothing new to him. All the way back in the 70s, music superstar David Bowie wore a beautiful, skin-tight Mugler gown in the video for his song Boys Keep Swinging, which helped kick-off the gender-fluid theme that is so powerful in the current fashion scene. During the 90s, Mugler also worked with the late George Michael in his dance-infused Too Funky music video, and a decade later designed the costumes for Beyoncé’s “I Am …” world tour in 2009 which received rave reviews.

The legendary Diana Ross (who walked the runway for him in 1991) tweeted a picture of the two of them, writing, “I will miss you Thierry Mugler this was a wonderful time in our lives”.

4. An eccentric approach to life

After stepping down from fashion in 2003, he went back to using his first name, Manfred. He took up bodybuilding and altered his appearance in the surgery following several life-threatening accidents which, typically, he had a different way of looking at.

“I had several accidents. One was crashing in a jeep, during which my nose was completely destroyed. Another motorcycle accident involved steel cables, after which I had to remove a piece of metal from my leg,” he told Interview Magazine, adding that he wanted to do something “fun” with the surgery.

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Mugler asked the doctor to take a piece of bone from his hip and put it on his chin. “I wanted my face to represent progress, because after years of being a thin, charming dancer, I wanted to be a warrior. I’ve done so much in my life. I’ve fought so much. I’m a superhero, so it’s normal to have the face of one,” he added.

Loud, different and unapologetic, Thierry Mugler lived a flamboyant life and was never afraid to push at supposed boundaries.