Casey Cadwallader Examines Personal Power Through Mugler Fall 2024

Ana Colón

March 3, 2024 at 5:56 PM·5 min read

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You can always count on Mugler to put on a show. But even by the brand's (very high) standards, Casey Cadwallader really went there with his Fall 2024 show for the house, staged on Sunday night during Paris Fashion Week.

In a chilly school gymnasium, Mugler hosted a multi-act runway that involved shadow work, curtain unveilings — and clothes, of course. With cameras buzzing and circling about (on drones, on remote-controlled tracks, handheld by some very swift operators), it felt as though guests were watching a movie or a music video being filmed, not a fashion show. Afterward, Cadwallader said he was less concerned with performance as he was with expressions of power, and how Mugler can be a vehicle for that.

"The body in motion is always the basis of fashion, but it's more about personal power," he explained. "The performance comes from the confidence. What's really nice is the way we think about clothes and also the way we cast is really about people who want to take that challenge and love it. It's really about liberating yourself and letting yourself flow, which is such a beautiful thing when you can make it happen. If clothes can help get you there, I'd love to be the person who helps."

Fall 2024 proposes something beyond the cutout body and catsuits that have defined Cadwallader's Mugler. There's a focus on dimension (via asymmetric hems, tinsel-like fringe draping and leather strap cutouts) and a variety of different textiles and fabrications (from velvet to sheer gauze to taffeta).

"Everything is pointed. Everything is a curve to a point," he said. "There's a lot of going around the body, like scarves or things that are peeling down. Everything is cut with this very insane logic, but at the same time it creates these flyaways and volumes and dynamism... I really like the nuts and bolts of making clothes and really obsessing about a line, so this was a fun one to follow."

The collection also introduces some newness for the Cadwallader era: prints (a surprising departure for the designer, who generally keeps it limited to solids) based off of paintings by Ambera Wellman. "She's a painter from New York that I'm a huge fan of. I literally saw this painting and I was like, 'Oh my God, it's so sexy and it's so sinister — just like this collection,'" Cadwallader recalled. "I DMed her and she was like, 'This is the best text I've ever gotten. Let's do this.' We made them in all these beautiful velvets and denim with gloss... It was an honor to be able to work with such beautiful images."

Cadwallader's message of personal power came to life with the help of a cast that included Eva Herzigova, Farida Khelfa, Kristen McMenamy, Irina Shayk, Precious Lee, Paloma Elsesser and other beloved models. The designer said he simply includes "people that I love" and "people who love the challenge of Mugler."

"They come and they say, 'What are you going to make me do? That shows this exuberance of spirit that's something that I admire so much — people that are brave and people that want to turn it out," Cadwallader continued. "Mugler is really so much about that. Mugler is not to hang out quietly in. Mugler is something to make a statement and to really feel yourself. These people all represent that for me."

See every look from Mugler Fall 2024 below.