October 3, 2023 |
Inside Les Salles du Carrousel beneath the Musée du Louvre, Mugler models marched. Suspended above them, industrial fans blasted the space, causing it to shapeshift into a wind tunnel of theatrical calibre and the fluid jersey and chiffon garments worn to billow and ripple as if submerged in water.
This daring spectacle was inspired by Casey Cadwallader’s irrepressible curiosity for the natural world and especially the mysterious beauty of the deep blue. The designer himself is a practised sailor, and as a child, possessed a passion for marine biology; these facets of his youth punctuated the offering as Cadwallader continued to carve out his powerful niche.
Sexy as ever, the looks – worn by super-hot heroines like Irina Shayk, Mowalola, Kai Isaiah-Jamal, Paloma Elsesser, Adut Akech and Alex Consani – were largely inspired by key Mugler haute couture collections of the late 1990s. While Paris Hilton wore a sharp-shouldered three-piece set, Helena Christensen, Amber Valletta and Angela Bassett sported illusion bodysuits and cropped ‘floating’ tailoring informed by the SS99 collection, with cut-outs offering generous glimpses of erogenous zones. Tucked under their arms were torqued and twisted Spiral and Zenith handbags.
From octopi to nudibranch, exotic aquatic species inspired the tentacular feel of the speckled prints and shadowy ombré shades. Cadwallader’s signature catsuits were reconstructed in anatomical transparencies with sequins that glistened like fish scales and required up to 360 hours of embroidery and 1314,000 individual elements to make. Like the sea urchin, a transparent knit tube dress was embroidered with thousands of clear acrylic nails resembling its spines. Like jellyfish, two drop-dead-elegant coats – similar to ones debuted in SS97 – featured 7,900 metres of hand-dyed fringe. Perspex hardware – a Manfred Mugler classic – became ‘glass’ corsetry, body shields and surreal exoskeletal peplums, bringing it all to a riotous close.
Photography courtesy of Mugler.
