Consider This from NPR - How Three Fashion Icons Shaped The Industry 'Beyond The Dress Or The Belt'

Episode Date: February 11, 2022

The fashion world has recently lost three of its greats - Andre Leon Talley, Thierry Mugler and Virgil Abloh. Each man was a pioneer in his own way: Mugler and Abloh pushed boundaries as designers, Talley was a Black editor at a time when they were few and far between. Robin Givhan, the Washington Post's senior critic-at-large, reflects on each man's influence and impact on the industry, and what these losses across the fashion industry mean.In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Support for NPR and the following message come from the Kauffman Foundation, providing access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity, regardless of race, gender, or geography. Kauffman.org The fashion world has recently lost three of its greats. In January, former Vogue creative director Andre Leon Talley died. He was 73. You can be aristocratic, but I haven't been born into an aristocratic family. Talley was the rare Black editor at a time when they were few and far between.

As he told NPR in 2020, his presence could cause friction. As you boldly, with confidence, show who you are to the world. Certain people just have the fear of seeing someone tall and black suddenly come on the surface. Shortly after that, fashion designer Thierry Mugler died, also 73. It is a show for big kids, grandchild, like I am. Mugler was known for funky, otherworldly silhouettes. He dressed stars like Grace Jones, David Bowie, and Diana Ross. And in November of last year, Louis Vuitton artistic director Virgil Abloh died. He was 41.

My personal goal is to understand what this new ethos in design can breed, like new collections, garments, and new ways that fashion can relate to the public. Robin Givhan, The Washington Post's senior critic at large, reflected on what these losses across the fashion industry mean. You lose a sense of institutional creative knowledge and expertise. You also, I think, lose the knowledge and the technique and the understanding of the business. Consider this. The clothes we wear, the fashion we value, they mirror our culture and how we see ourselves, now and in the future. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro.

It's Friday, February 11th. mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the Wyze app today or visit wyze.com. T's and C's apply. It's Consider This from NPR. In the music video for George Michael's 1992 hit Too Funky, models draped in the finest, funkiest fits strut, stalk, and preen down the runway. Their silhouettes are big and bold, adorned with ornate armor, all designed by Thierry Mugler. For him, everything was about beauty, power, and empowerment of women, making them provocative and strong without sacrificing their beauty. That's fashion and culture journalist Dana Thomas. He loved the hourglass figure, big bosoms, tiny waist, big derriere,

sort of the Jessica Rabbit shapeliness. Hi Vogue, it's Kim. In 2019, Mugler worked with reality TV star Kim Kardashian to create a look for the Met Gala. She told Vogue as soon as she heard that year's theme, she thought, it's camp, then it's Mr. Mugler. Like he is like the king of camp, like he invented camp. This nude colored latex gown for the Met Gala that was dripping in crystals that looked like raindrops was just magical and magnificent in its femininity and yet its strength. All that Mugler was and all that Kim Kardashian tries to be

really came together. Terry Mugler wore many hats, photographer, designer for Cirque du Soleil and Beyonce, and he was unapologetically queer at a time when that was unusual. When I spoke with Thomas, I asked her what he did for LGBTQ people in fashion and beyond. He was out and he was proud in a time when that was still not really done, even in fashion. And Thierry Moogler spent a lot of time in South Beach and really living up in the gay community of South Beach and out on the beach in Miami Beach and really out in the crowd and having a great time and going to clubs. He was also into weightlifting and became quite a body

builder. And the pictures that came out in later years where he was doing bodybuilding, he was just fantastic. What a bold and brave person. We've talked about a few of his signature looks, his iconic designs, moments that will live on in history. If somebody listening to this is unfamiliar with his work, and they were going to do a Google image search right now, what would you tell them to look for? The most beautiful collection was the insects collection. It was just extraordinary how, I don't even know how to say it, he made these women look like they were creatures in a magical forest. I've just pulled this up and he has women covered in scales,

like a bodice that's a carapace, antenna, wings. It's transformative. It's just magical. You can actually see the echoes of 20 years later Marvel superhero movies that would transform people into creatures that are clearly referencing things that he was doing in, what year was this? 95. Hmm. If somebody had wisened up out on the West Coast and realized the potential of Terry Moogler designing Marvel comic costumes for them. Wow, Zao, nothing would have ever looked the same. I guess they'll just have to tap his archives for inspiration. A million bucks.

That's Dana Thomas, fashion and culture journalist based in Paris, remembering Manfred Thierry Mugler with us. Thank you so much. Thank you. Virgil Abloh also wore many hats. He studied civil engineering and architecture, not fashion. He, you know, came up through pop culture, not through sort of traditional design channels.

And he was very good at sort of bridging the gaps between different disciplines. He himself was a DJ and, you know, had a huge social media following before coming to fashion. And so he really kind of changed the image of what a fashion designer should be. That's Booth Moore, West Coast executive editor of Women's Wear Daily. Virgil was a catalyst for a lot of what is now expected of the industry and that it's slowly coming around to. Abloh was influenced by so much,

says The Washington Post's Robin Givhan. He was influenced not just by what we think of as streetwear, which has kind of an athletic feel to it, but he was also influenced by, you know, sort of skater gear and Japanese street culture and contemporary art. All of those things were sort of layered on top of each other in his work. And he refused to be put into a box. There is a lesson that he leaves. It is just because you didn't study fashion design doesn't mean that you don't have a point of view as a designer. And just because you are a black man doesn't mean that the only thing that you know how to design or interested in designing are sneakers and hoodies. This is Andre Leontali reporting live from Paris.

Headlines about Andre Leontali's death often described him as a pioneer, a trailblazer. I think those terms are often thrown around a bit loosely, but I think in the case of Andre Leon Talley, they are really accurate. Talley entered the fashion industry in the 70s when it was an overwhelmingly white and rarefied space, says Gavon. For a very long time, he was really the only Black person, the only Black man at that level of creative director of a major glossy fashion publication, in his case, American Vogue. I think people will continue to look back at his career and think about what it meant to have the weight of a community on your shoulders to some degree, because you're sort of the only one who has a seat at the table.

Edward Ennefel, the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue, wrote on Instagram, RIP dearest Andre, without you, there would be no me. Gavon says it might sound like a cliche, but Andre Leont did not exist before Andre appeared on the scene. What I hope that I can impart, something beyond the dress or the belt, something beyond the label, something that has more long-lasting value. Beyond the dress, the belt, or the label, Andre Leon Talley, Thierry Mugler, and Virgil Abloh each shaped the fantasy, beauty, and future of fashion. You're listening to Consider This from NPR. I'm Ari Shapiro.