Beauty Executives Remember Manfred Thierry Mugler – WWD

PARIS – Beauty industry executives have described Manfred Thierry Mugler as a visionary who introduced a new fragrance with Angel and in the following years created a line of best-selling fragrances. The designer passed away late Sunday at the age of 73.

Launched in 1992, the iconic and esoteric fragrance Angel was the first fragrance from the Clarins Group, and is considered a breakthrough in the industry because of its “edible” creative contracts. including chocolate notes, and the association of advertising, packaging and merchandise with the designer’s image.

Stupid convention, no market testing was done on the fragrance prior to launch. It comes in a bottle with a star on it’s side. Nothing like it has been seen before. After two years of slow but steady revenue growth, Angel began to become a classic.

In the late 90s, Angel topped Chanel No.5 in the prestigious charts in France, and achieved top positions in many countries for decades after its introduction. Last year, it ranked 5th in France and 12th in Europe among women’s fragrances.

Vera Strubi, who launched Angel and retired at the end of 2006 as the president of Thierry Mugler Parfums Worldwide, convinced Mugler that he should set his fragrances themed in the fashion shows of me.

“The Angel theme was the highlight of his 1984 show that was open to the public at Zenith,” she said. “Another theme that appears throughout his universe is the star – on his buttons, present in many accessories – hence the perfume bottle in the form of a star. Both universal symbols and emotions! ”

“Thierry Mugler not only inspired our fragrance team, he was and will remain an icon of the fashion industry,” says Strubi. I am very sad about his death. A genius has left us and left us humble people if it weren’t for his creativity, energy and endless surprises”.

Thirteen years after launching Angel into the fragrance stratosphere, in 2005, Thierry Mugler launched a scent with an otherworldly positioning: Alien. Its bottle is shaped to resemble a multifaceted amethyst.

Today, Alien is still a blockbuster, becoming the 10th best-selling women’s fragrance in Europe by 2021. Overall, Mugler fragrances, including the brands Aura, Womanity and Innocent, ranked sixth. in Europe and 15th worldwide last year.

L’Oréal, acquired the Mugler brands from Groupe Clarins in March 2020, called Thierry Mugler “a true visionary without the fashion and beauty world”.

“Manfred Thierry Mugler is always ahead of his time and his creations have inspired a whole new generation of designers,” Nicolas Hieronimus, chief executive officer of L’Oréal, said in a statement.

“A steadfast pioneer and committed to diversity, inclusion and gender equality, his designs have explored new territory, calling on each of us to freely define our identity,” he said. and proud to be who we want to be.

Mugler played a key role in Virginie Courtin-Clarins’ founding years. The Groupe Clarins The Deputy CEO, the granddaughter of the company’s founder, has known him since about 8 years old. “It’s like we’re losing a family member. He helped build Groupe Clarins. The family history wouldn’t be the same without him,” she said.

Courtin-Clarins says the Mugler fragrance pushes the boundaries of beauty, and she remembers that the designer was not one to compromise. “He always wanted to break codes, and he had no limits in his mind…[about] she talks more about beauty and fashion.

“Mr. Mugler always says ‘anything is possible’ and ‘my limits are unlimited,'” said Sandrine Groslier, global president of Mugler Fashion & Fragrance at L’Oréal, who has worked with Mugler for 27 years, said, “For me, this sentence is the best way to summarize how he lived his life – as an extravagant, creative and dreamy man.”

She calls him sensitive, visionary and very demanding. “That’s why he’s so successful – he’s been able to create that sense of urgency,” says Groslier. “It is very inspiring for everyone. He is really a role model for the whole team.”

She recalls that women, and the way they viewed his creations, had always been paramount to Mugler, who sought inspiration in everything from architecture to design and photography. .

“He wanted everyone to go on an adventure,” says Groslier. “What he wants is to create emotions for people, to be connected to them.”

And he succeeded – on so many levels. At the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, where the memorial service “Thierry Mugler: Couturissime” took place, hundreds of people lined up to pay their respects, she said.

Joël Palix, who also formerly led Thierry Mugler’s fragrance and fashion businesses at Clarins, and now runs the boutique consulting firm Palix Unlimited, recalls Mugler’s motto: “Your measurements I am redundant”.

“It is a favorite motto that he applies to fashion as well as to his life and work. Everything about him is redundant and finding perfection, everything is a challenge,” said Palix.

“He is a designer of great shows and fashions, but he also has an extremely developed and unique nose, which he participated in all of his olfactory meetings. We chose ‘stylish’ vanilla and patchouli notes for Angel, and bold jasmine and cashmeran notes for Aliens,” says Palix.

According to Michael Edwards, historian and author of perfumery, Mugler’s imagination is highly variable.

“From the very beginning, Angel was designed to be a perfume like no other. “I wanted something tasty and delicious, reminiscent of my childhood,” Edwards recalls Mugler saying, adding that the designer specified it should be “the scent of a fairground, cotton candy, cupcakes, chocolates, caramels and the like.”

“Mugler loves the name Angel; Edwards said.

He quoted Mugler as saying: “Every star has its guardian angel, and every woman is an angel. What kind of angels? That’s for us to choose. We can look like an angel one minute, and be a little devil the next.”

Angel has always been a divisive fragrance: Some find it shocking, while others are addicted.

“Its absolute originality reflects the designer’s fashion philosophy: ‘To dress is to step into the limelight,” Edwards said, adding that Mugler’s legacy of items Fragrant desserts continue to attract perfumers. “There’s a new star in the sky.”

For more, see:

Celebrities, Fashion Funeral Manfred Thierry Mugler

Photos of Manfred Thierry Mugler throughout the years

French designer Manfred Thierry Mugler dies aged 73