While Mugler designer Casey Cadwallader has been seriously heating up fashion films during the pandemic, the French house plans to return to the Paris runway on January 26 — in fortified condition.
She has scheduled a presentation for January 26 at 8 p.m. at La Villette, a sprawling cultural complex on the northeastern outskirts of Paris, where Cadwallader will showcase the see now, buy now collection, which is believed to be Fall 2023.
The event comes at the end of Paris Couture Week, which runs from January 23 to 26 this season, and which usually gathers some ready-to-wear events at both ends of the program.
Details of the show’s content and format are under wraps, but Mugler describes it as a “new concept” and “an immersive experience across all channels and in front of a live audience.”
Mugler’s last live runway show was in Fall 2020.
During the lockdown, Cadwallader made three fast films full of special effects; wild body-baring fashion and cameos from the likes of Megan Thee Stallion, Chloë Sevigny, Hunter Schafer and Shalom Harlow.
Casey Cadwallader and Hunter Schafer on the set of Mugler’s Spring 2021 fashion film.
Courtesy of Mugler
The designer marveled at how the film offered him a vehicle for wider consumer engagement, and expressed some hesitation at the end of the trilogy to “go back to a simple runway show”.
“It’s not a classic return to the runway,” hinted Pascal Conte-Jodra, managing director of Mugler fashion, noting that his films have received millions of views, the latest more than 15 million across all channels. “We’ve learned how to entertain, we’ve learned how to surprise, we’ve learned how to capture attention and delight 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 we’ve done in the past,” and one that has the end customer firmly in mind.
“Mugler has always been a popular brand and we didn’t want to leave the show to just the lucky few,” he added.
It will be the first time Mugler has unveiled the 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 unveils two collections a year and plans to return to the rtw fashion schedule in the fall to develop its new concept.
Mugler’s return to IRL fashion shows comes at a difficult time for the brand, which is currently experiencing triple-digit growth and “very strong sales” on its online store and select retail partners, the executive said.