Motorcycle corset
The motorcycle corset, also known as the motorcycle bustier, is a garment created by French fashion designer Thierry Mugler in 1992 as part of his Les Cowboys ready-to-wear collection. The piece is constructed primarily from plastic, metal, and Plexiglas, and incorporates literal motorcycle components, including rear-view mirrors and a headlight, into a wearable bodice. The motorcycle corset is considered one of the most widely recognised garments in late twentieth-century fashion history, and is held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Background
[edit]
Thierry Mugler moved to Paris in 1970, establishing his own eponymous fashion house four years later. Mugler's spring/summer 1992 collection, titled Les Cowboys, was among his most celebrated,[1] featuring models in leather, cowhide, and rubber. The collection included corseted biker jackets with fringe, thigh-high boots attached at the waist, and cowboy hats, with the motorcycle corset being the centrepiece of the collection.
The motorcycle corset was constructed using plastic, metal, and Plexiglas.[1] The back features leather belts and metal buckles, securing the piece around the model's body, while the front incorporates a graphic flame design rendered in red, orange, and blue.[1]
The corset has shiny silver plastic outlines the central graphic, while black leather tassels hang from the motorcycle "handlebars" at the front; prominent rear-view mirrors extend past the wearer's shoulders, and an unlit yellow light bulb at the top centre front represents the headlight of the deconstructed vehicle.[1] The centre of the front panel is adorned with a ram's skull.[1]
"Too Funky" music video (1992)
[edit]The motorcycle corset gained international recognition through its appearance in the music video for "Too Funky", a 1992 single by George Michael.[2][1] Mugler directed the video himself,[3] in which the garment was worn by Swedish model Emma Wiklund.[1] The video, which Mugler conceived as a fashion show staged within a fictional television production, also featured models Linda Evangelista, Tyra Banks, Nadja Auermann, Estelle Hallyday, and Shana Zadrick,[1] as well as actresses Julie Newmar and Rossy de Palma.[4]
Acquisition by the Met and subsequent appearances
[edit]In 2001, the motorcycle corset was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City,[1] where it is held as part of the Anna Wintour Costume Center's collection. In 2008, the Costume Center featured the piece in its annual gala exhibition, titled Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, curated by Andrew Bolton.[1] In the accompanying exhibition catalogue, Bolton wrote that "both Ghost Rider and the Punisher embodied the Iron Age's focus on death, a focus that finds resonance in the costumes of ... Thierry Mugler".[1]
In 2015, the motorcycle corset was used in a cabaret show, the Mugler Follies, in Paris.[5] The piece was subsequently included in the travelling retrospective exhibition Thierry Mugler: Couturissime, which opened at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, France, in 2021,[6] before being transferred to the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, where it opened in November 2022.[7]
Association with Beyoncé
[edit]American singer Beyoncé first viewed the motorcycle corset when it was displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2008 Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy exhibition.[1] She subsequently wore the original piece in a series of promotional photographs for her 2008 album I Am... Sasha Fierce, photographed in black and white by Peter Lindbergh.[1][8]
Following the photoshoot, Beyoncé commissioned Mugler to design 58 new stage costumes for her I Am... tour and to serve as creative consultant for the production.[9][8] Mugler told The Daily Telegraph that "I was very touched that she asked me, because she could have asked younger people. But she recognized that I was pretty much at the origin of this moment."[9] The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising stated that Beyoncé's engagement with Mugler marked "his most visible collaboration" in the period following his retirement from runway fashion in 2000.
Reception
[edit]Vogue praised the motorcycle corset in a 1992 review, writing that it was "probably destined for the museum".[1] The BBC described the garment as "traffic-stopping", naming it one of Mugler's most famous designs.[8] Elle lauded the corset as "undoubtedly one of [Mugler's] most iconic pieces",[10] while Bustle described it as "his most memorable piece".[11]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "1992 – Thierry Mugler, Bustier". Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ Borrelli-Persson, Laird (25 December 2016). "An Oral History of George Michael's 1992 "Too Funky" Video, Directed by Manfred Thierry Mugler". Vogue. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ "Welcome to the Mugler renaissance". Sleek. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ "Fashion Flashback: Thierry Mugler's Motorcycle Corset". Fashion Reverie. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ "Evenings out in Paris: Mugler Follies". France Today. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
- ↑ "Thierry Mugler, Couturissime". Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
- ↑ Prince, Daisy (18 November 2022). "Agent Provocateur". Digital Party.
- 1 2 3 "In pictures: Thierry Mugler's life and works". BBC. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- 1 2 Garratt, Sheryl (23 July 2019). "A fierce comeback for Thierry Mugler". Gulf News for The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ "The Most Iconic Thierry Mugler Designs Through The Ages". ELLE. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ "Thierry Mugler's Most Iconic Fashion Moments". Bustle. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2026.