January 27, 2023 |
Last night, Casey Cadwallader’s Mugler troupe returned to the catwalk. For the last two years, the designer has skipped physical fashion shows in favour of his own mini blockbusters, which have given his design handwriting superhero flair. Speaking over Zoom ahead of one of the four viral films he put out – where the likes of Dominique Jackson, Irina Shayk and Adut Akech ducked, dipped, and shapeshifted like Marvel heroines – Cadwallader said: “I don’t want to go back to the runway the same way. For me, I feel like some sort of rope has got cut, I am like now drifting off somewhere, and I don’t really want to tie myself back up with it.”
Instead, he took over a hanger in Paris’ 19th arrondissement to stage his own live-action film, starring everyone from Arca, Amber Valletta, Eva Herzigova and Shalom Harlow, to Mariacarla Boscono, Anok Yai, and Ziwe. They each whizzed past on film dollies, flicking their hair as men rigged with cameras stalked their every move. It was full-blown, curated chaos: Ziwe had a back-and-forth with Lisa Rinna, Dominique Jackson became a robot, and Arca ended up snatching the brand’s new Spiral Curve 01 bag straight out of the hands City Girls’ JT, who sat on the front row.
On the fashion side, models came armoured in lace-infused updates of Cadwallader’s signature catsuits, alongside ruched denim jackets, leather motorcycle trousers that zipped off into chaps and boxy tailoring that was sliced and diced to expose erogenous zones. It was Cadwallader continuing to carve out his niche: creating clothes that make his women feel superhuman – both on screen and in real life.
Photography courtesy of Mugler.
