H&M has been bringing luxury to the masses via unlikely collaborations with high fashion giants since 2004. First there was Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld, then there was Stella McCartney, Versace, Balmain and Simone Roche.
Next to take the high street stage is iconic French fashion house Mugler, which is best known for its unique brand of sexy power dressing.
To celebrate the highly anticipated partnership between the two, last night 800 VIPs guests took over the Park Avenue Armory in New York. Of course, it wouldn’t be Mugler show without a party, so to kick off the night’s festivities muses Shy Girl, Amaarae and Eartheater performed hyped-up sets to the crowd, which included Pamela Anderson, Charli XCX, Chloë Sevigny, Lourdes Leon and Dominique Jackson, all of whom were dressed head to toe in pieces from the collection.
Then models like Paloma Elsesser and Irina Shayk strutted down the domed catwalk wearing black leather trench coats, sequin sweatshirts and their signature slinky cat suits. With DJ sets by Bobby Beethoven, Goth Jafar and Asmara punctuating the runway show with club-ready bangers.
“Mugler has always been a house with a lot of cultural soul, and this event was a celebration of our long association with music, dance and performance. It was the ideal celebration of the Mugler H&M collection, and the perfect way to welcome people into our world - an unforgettable night built around freedom, personal expression and liberating, bold fashion,” said Mugler’s creative director Casey Cadwallader in a post-event press release.
The partnership was first announced in Febuary. During a pre-launch party press conference H&M’s creative adviser Ann-Sofie Johansson explained that, “everybody kept saying Mugler,” when asked who was the most exciting brand to collaborate with right now was. And last night’s launch party was proof they were right.
As work on the collection began before the passing of Mugler founder Thierry Mugler in January 2022, with the late designer drafting a few sketches for the collaboration, Johansson explained: “We are doing something of a history of the house – from the birth with Mr. Mugler to the rebirth with Casey,” adding that, “we haven’t done anything like that before.”
