Industry in the classroom: Parsons Paris X Mugler

This year, Parsons Paris collaborated with Mugler, with the fashion house’s creative team led by Casey Cadwallader, serving as the guest tutor. This collaboration aimed to show first-year MFA students what it would be like to design at an industry level. The initiative was designed to help students seamlessly transition from academic life to professional careers by immersing them in real-world design challenges.

For their first project, Parsons Paris MFA students were tasked with the challenge of emulating Mugler’s heritage by working with its ten style codes and integrating Casey Cadwallader’s layered vision for the house, channeling radical femininity. This collaboration not only allowed students to delve deep into the brand’s artistic universe but also enabled them to collaborate closely with their peers on various stages of development and communication.

The project aimed for the students to adopt a personal design-focused lens in reimagining Mugler’s legacy. By conducting historical and conceptual research on the house’s ten codes—Body, Architecture, Impossible Necklines, Science, Corsetry and Lingerie Innovation, Anatomical Seaming, Techno Flou, 3D Moulding, Neo Embroidery, and Nature—and drawing inspiration from Mugler’s archive, students were tasked with designing ten 2D looks that blend the house’s heritage with their own innovative ideas.

“Sometimes it’s also the very first time that the students have to work based on a very specific design brief. For some, working based on the identity and heritage of a house and combining their own aesthetics with them can be very challenging, but that’s what every creative working for storied brand, no matter if it’s Nike or Chanel, has to be able to do.” – Tuomas Laitinen

According to Parsons Paris faculty members, students often have different expectations from the reality of the industry. This project allows them to experience it within a safe environment. For some, this project is the first time they create following a specific design brief, where they have to honour a certain house’s identity and heritage while also developing their own aesthetics, which can prove quite challenging. In a way, this collaboration serves as a “first glimpse of reality”. Casey Cadwallader personally followed the students’ progress and gave them direct feedback, allowing them to learn how to properly present and pitch their work, which does not come easy.

After a first collaboration with MM6, the MFA faculty wanted a house with a rich archive that students could dive into while serving ‘completely opposite aesthetics’ to the previous year.” Mugler was a perfect and natural choice.

The design brief follows the ten Mugler themes, the same house codes Casey revisits when referencing Mugler’s archival pieces during his design process. Initially, students researched and explored all themes before selecting one to two as focal points for their collections. For the visual publication, students were randomly assigned to shoot each other’s collections, each in one of Paris’s twenty arrondissements, while keeping in mind the Maison’s visual brand identity.

This allowed them to learn and come to terms with the fact that designers do not always have full control over how their designs are perceived and communicated.

“It’s also part of a learning curve, that a designer can’t always control how photographers and stylists shoot their creations for publications.” – Tuomas Laitinen

Having now concluded their collaboration with Mugler, the MFA students invite us into their creative journey and share their reflections on accessing the Maison.

What were you expecting to learn from this experience? Upon completing the project, how do you reflect on yourself as a designer?

Anna Vescovi: “When I began the year as a Parsons Paris MFA student, I had completed an undergraduate degree in fashion textile production. In fact, I didn’t know how to thread a Juki on my first day. The Mugler collaboration brief was announced at the beginning of the semester, which meant I had to quickly learn advanced sewing, patternmaking and tailoring skills. Our class was granted two visits at the Maison’s archives filled with some of the most famous pieces not just of the Maison, but in the world of fashion and beyond. Adapting to Thierry Mugler’s technically advanced characteristics while complimenting Casey’s visionary lens of today had to be strategically fused with our own conceptual twist. Technical skills aside, curating a harmony between past and present in respect of an abundant Maison is no easy feat.

I chose a concept which acknowledges three core archival looks from the 90s, pulling stylistic elements into the narrative lens of a fictitious contemporary character. Casey uses a similar process, sought after in his own right, while subtly hinting at collection details from 80s and 90s heritage. The challenge of this collaboration, for us students, is met by striking the perfect balance between each of these elements in just the right way, while incorporating a bit of our personal visions into the mix. The full design process felt dangerously exciting, which in turn, is in the true essence of Mugler.”

Araz Yaghoub Nakhjavan Tapeh: “To collaborate with such a historic brand like Mugler I really wanted to push myself in ways I haven’t before, whether it’s a type of fabric I don’t work with often or a silhouette. As a student, it’s common to get stuck on ideas. With this project, I just went ahead and started making. I’ve experimented with building an entire muscled body on the mannequin, moulding, 3D printing etc. Although most of it isn’t seen in my final garments, this project changed my approach on how to incorporate a brand’s heritage at a fast pace. As a designer, I’m undoubtedly keeping this open experimental approach that I have developed with this project.”

Yang Shen: “I anticipated gaining insight into how the industry and professional designers work creatively. As a student, I often find myself confined to the academic environment, losing sight of the larger industry landscape. During my research, I explored the rich history of Thierry Mugler and observed how Casey Cadwallader draws from the archives to create a modern Mugler for today. I believe it is always challenging to work with a brand that has such a storied history. Initially, the brand’s DNA felt overwhelming. However, I discovered connections between my cultural background and the brand’s history, which helped me delve deeper. As a designer, it is crucial for me to resonate with the brands I work with, finding common ground and collaboratively pushing towards creating a perfect collection.”

How did this collaboration impact your design process? How did it differ from other university projects?

Wendy Kuo: “This project pushed me to experiment with unconventional materials, helping me to break out of my comfort zone and redefine my design aesthetics. It definitely gave me the opportunity and time to design hardware by using 3D printing technology. I have to say, the highlights of this project was having access to the amazing archival pieces and meeting unique individuals that had worked with Thierry back in the days. The experience thus far is truly amazing!”

Qin Shen: “I usually start a project with a concept I come up with and then set off collecting visual inspirations. However, this collaboration is more about exploring the spirit of Mugler and interpreting it in our own design languages. It is my first time starting from the heritage of a brand. We watched all past runway shows, reviewed relative documentaries, visited the archive, all that built up the image of the Mugler person, who I think is powerful and confident. From technical aspects, prophase research also helped me refine some key design elements I wish to explore and develop further, like the exaggerated silhouette with broad shoulders and cinched waist and the 3D breast models and decorations.”

Grace Wroblewski: “Five years ago, I could not have imagined I would be meeting with the Creative Director of Mugular to discuss my work. When working on this project, as with anyone’s design process, research was integral to the collection’s development. Having an extensive archive of Mugler to dive into definitely impacted how I went about the project. There were so many different directions a person could go, but with time you begin to see overlapping elements. The hourglass figure and exaggerated silhouettes were elements that specifically stood out to me and were core aspects of my design development. The other impactful aspect of this project was the ten themes Mugler provided; each theme had its own look but all the looks had to be cohesive with one another. I would say that it was a challenge, but an exciting one. Usually a designer would include one or two themes for a collection, but for our project we had to do individualised research on each of the ten themes, and then do further research on the concept that would tie all 10 themes together. I had not been tasked with a project where there were so many elements to factor in all at once, but it really made me hone my research skills and refined my idea of what makes something cohesive.”

Many graduates struggle with balancing their personal vision while reinterpreting another designer’s brand. This exercise is crucial for learning to honour a brand’s heritage and image without merely replicating it. How challenging was it to integrate the Mugler design code into your style while maintaining your own ethos?

Candice Ji: “I have to admit that it was very demanding to integrate the Mugler code into my design identity from the very beginning. When it comes to my own style, I am all about being loosely fitted and having zero emphasis on the body curves, which is in complete contrast to the brand’s image. Yet as the project developed, I learned to select several Mugler elements that spoke to me without losing my own ethos, which includes rather loosely fitted women’s trench coats, wide shoulder jackets, tight belts over the outerwear, innovative use of materials and so forth. Throughout the process, I evidently reflected on my own design style over and over again in order to combine the brand’s heritage with my own.”

Ziting Lin: ”Immersing myself in Mugler’s world allowed me to internalise its essence, leading to innovative fabrications in prints and modernised vintage silhouettes. During the research phase, I visited vintage shops to examine real-life Mugler pieces for their outstanding tailoring and detailing, which I found very intriguing. I then explored a variety of techniques on different materials in a Mugler-inspired way. This process challenged my ability to creatively design within a specific aesthetic while also discovering the enjoyable aspects of creation.”

Xiao Xu: “I’ve always been fascinated by Mugler’s transhumanism, which combines the human body with insects, robots and aliens. Breaking the body’s natural form was very pioneering for that time. My own design style is about posthumanism and alien aesthetics, so I wanted to reinterpret this part of the Mugler heritage in my personal design language.

I referred to the H.R Giger jacket from Mugler AW 1990, metal accessories and alien aesthetics made by Thierry Mugler, while merging some soft and poetic elements in my collection. I designed an alien-esque orchid emblem and embossed it on leather. I also experimented with 3d printing technology and created  some accessories that break through the original human body structure, then combined them with garments.

I think the challenge is to find a heritage that interests you and be bold enough to experiment and play with it.”