Mugler SS27: When Nature Becomes Otherworldly

For SS27, Mugler transforms nature into a surreal fantasy, where the body, the animal and the otherworldly collide.

For Spring/Summer 2027, Mugler returns to one of the most instinctive elements of its own mythology: nature. Under Miguel Castro Freitas, however, nature is never presented in its purest form. It is magnified, distorted and transformed until flowers become creatures, skin becomes texture and the human body begins to resemble something from another world.

Editorial reproduction/ Mugler 

Presented at the Carrousel du Louvre, the collection continues Castro Freitas’s exploration of Mugler’s visual heritage while pushing it towards something more surreal. His starting point was the natural world as seen through a magnifying glass — the repeated patterns of insects, flowers and animals becoming abstract motifs rather than literal references. The result is a collection that constantly questions what we are actually looking at.

The body remains at the centre of the collection. Second-skin tops appear covered in iridescent textures reminiscent of scales, while animal markings, feathers and sculptural surfaces transform familiar silhouettes into something almost biological. A zebra motif travels across tailoring, accessories and shoes; flowers appear to grow directly from evening dresses; and a skirt made from long strands of hair pushes the idea of metamorphosis even further.

Editorial Reproduction/Mugler 

There is also a strong dialogue with Mugler’s past. The insectoid imagery recalls some of the house’s most recognisable moments, while the sharply defined silhouettes look back towards the 1960s and the Space Age influences that shaped Thierry Mugler’s imagination. Corsetry, pointed forms, fitted tailoring and futuristic proportions give the collection its unmistakable architectural quality.

But SS27 is not an exercise in nostalgia. Castro Freitas understands that the most interesting way to honour Mugler is to allow its vocabulary to mutate. Nature becomes technological; the animal becomes artificial; the feminine body becomes something almost extraterrestrial. Even the familiar is made strange.

That sense of transformation is ultimately what gives the collection its power. Mugler has always understood the body as a site of fantasy, and SS27 continues that tradition by refusing to keep the human and the natural worlds separate. Instead, they merge into something more ambiguous — beautiful, unsettling and deliberately unreal.

In this new Mugler universe, nature is not something to simply admire. It is something to become.