The Posthuman and Thierry Mugler's Cyborg Femininity

Over the course of his career, designer Thierry Mugler envisioned the evolution of the feminine form through a fusion of material garments and immaterial gestures, and organic and inorganic beings. Through a discussion of a selection of his runway shows, notably Spring/Summer 1989, Autumn/Winter 1989, Spring/Summer 1992 and Autumn/Winter 1995, this article considers how Mugler fashioned posthuman dressed femininity, distorting contemporary codes of Western womenswear. Discussion of Mugler’s incorporation of animal traits and machine technologies into fashion design are framed by the contemporaneous cyborg theory of Donna Haraway. This article argues that Mugler cohered a futuristic vision of femininity through holistic application of choreography and innovative design.