Mugler’s Casey Cadwallader on the fashion house’s legacy: the brand’s creative director has dressed Kylie Jenner, Cardi B and Beyoncé, and previously worked at Loewe and Acne Studios – interview

Jun 21 , 2023

Casey Cadwallader, creative director of Mugler. Photo: Handout

Mugler was founded by the late Thierry Mugler in 1973, and has long been revered for its theatrical and fearless silhouettes rocked by icons from Diana Ross to Sharon Stone

In 2018, Cadwallader took the reins as creative director with a vision to resurrect the iconic fashion house – he’s since styled celebs including Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat

It’s no small thing to take on a legacy fashion house. Especially one so vividly associated with a certain kind of fierceness, power, camp and kinky sexiness. Or one that turned fashion shows into theatrical spectacles and thrummed with pop culture relevance, its provocative clothes worn by everyone from Diana Ross to Sharon Stone, and then the likes of Cardi B and Kylie Jenner raiding the archives in later years. Who’s brave enough for all of that?

The answer is Casey Cadwallader, creative director at Mugler – the fashion house started by the late Thierry Mugler in 1973 – since 2018.

A plus-size model walks the runway in an all-black look for Mugler’s autumn/winter 2023 show presented in June. Photo: Handout

“Not lightly,” is how Cadwallader, who over a Zoom call with Style is surrounded by an angelic halo of Parisian light at his desk, describes taking on Mugler’s legacy and resurrecting a house that had cycled through a few creative directors since Thierry’s genre-redefining time.

I always looked up to [Thierry Mugler] and I always was fascinated by his work

Casey Cadwallader, creative director, Mugler

“I always looked up to him and I always was fascinated by his work. When I was young I would see it on TV mainly because I didn’t live in the city yet. And it was just such a vivacious image,” he says. “You saw these over-the-top people looking so fantastic and there was such an energy and a pulsing culture around what I saw on TV. And then when I started to really hunt in vintage stores in my late teens, I would start to see the pieces and they were just so different and so sculptural and so crafted and making all these crazy curves and shapes and I was just really impressed by them and their whole presence on a hanger.”

A model presents an artistic creation with cut-outs for the Mugler autumn/winter 2023 show in June. Photo: Handout

Cadwallader, who spent time behind the scenes at brands such as Acne Studios, Loewe and Narciso Rodriguez before Mugler, shares the same affinity with Thierry Mugler for showmanship, inclusiveness and looking beyond the status quo in fashion.

His collections so far have been joyful and sharp and provocative – lots of ombré bodycon, leather and lace, corsetry and cut-out denim shown on different bodies (Cadwallader’s mum also loves his denim). Allowing plenty of room for self-expression is how Cadwallader has always approached fashion.

“I think in today’s world we don’t like to be defined with one sort of label. I use myself often as an example. This can have to do with boldness versus conservatism, it can have to do with gender expression, it can be a lot of things, but I think that everyone has a really broad range of who they are. I think what’s interesting with Mugler specifically is that it’s always been quite out there, and there’s something really liberating about that,” he says.

Like Thierry Mugler, Cadwallader loves dressing true performers and thinking about how they will embody clothes on stage. His designs have been worn by the likes of Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé.