WHEN AUTOMOTIVE INSPIRES HIGH FASHION

The countdown is ending. You have until Sunday, September 8 to discover the exhibition Couturissime, devoted to the exploded universe of fashion designer Thierry Mugler, presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. 

 Worn : Thierry Mugler,The Insects Collection, haute couture spring-summer 1997. Photo : © Patrice Stable.

Spectacular and colorful, this retrospective exhumes iconic outfits presented through 6 rooms. Like a play, each room represents an Act dedicated to a world from the designer’s imagination. In the last Act, the robotic woman rubs shoulders with “the elegant, bodied creatures” presented in Mugler’s 1989 Buick Winter Collection, a tribute to Harley J. Earl.

EARL & MUGLER, MEN OF VISION 

 This American visionary, who headed the first automobile design department at General Motors in 1928, revolutionized the world of automobiles. As head of Art & Color at GM, a department dedicated exclusively to new model designs, he contributed to the company’s success until his retirement in 1958. Like Mugler, Earl was an innovator and transformed his industry. In 1937, the father of American automotive design took concept car design to another level with the Buick Y-Job. Then in the 1950s, inspired by military aviation and the conquest of space, Earl created mythical winged cars, including the Cadillac Eldorado. These wings, he believed, contributed to the vehicle’s stability.

 I visited the show not once, but twice. The second time with my children of 9 and 10 years old. I wanted to introduce them to a deeper level of clothes that we wear and show them that with imagination everything becomes possible. Through the exhibition, we penetrated in the heart of the vision of the creator to live his interpretation of the universe which surrounds us.

 Swivel to the fantasy dimension of an exceptional designer and see that everything can become a source of inspiration, even cars. Because like Mugler, they allow us to discover new horizons!

 After Montreal, Couturissime is going on a world tour. From October 12, 2019 to March 8, 202 it will be presented at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, then from April 3 to August 30, 2020 in Munich at the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung.