Miley Cyrus‘s fresh brings back vintage Mugler silhouettes for a film-inspired fashion fever dream. In the world of pop reinvention, no artist has transformed their image as much or as often as Miley Cyrus. The shape-shifting actress is once again ready to unveil her most fashion-forward output yet with “Something Beautiful,” her ninth studio album, out May 30th.
The visual album, which Cyrus directed along with Jacob Bixenman and Brendan Walter, is not so much a compilation of music videos—it’s an entire fashion rebirth raiding the coffers of legendary designers, particularly Thierry Mugler, whose over-the-top and avant-garde aesthetic is the perfect backdrop for Cyrus’s next evolution.
Working behind this visual splendor is stylist Bradley Kenneth, Cyrus’s longtime collaborator who began considering the looks while the singer was really recording tracks in the studio. “I’ll sometimes go with her, just to listen while she’s recording, and that’s when I start imagining and dreaming up the looks,” Kenneth told a recent interview.
What’s revealed is nothing less than the fashion historian’s fairy tale. The cover of Cyrus’s album is the singer posing in Mugler’s legendary “Spider” style from the designer’s spring 1997 “Les Insects” haute couture collection—a design that Kenneth calls uniting “fragility and strength in such a beautiful manner.” The selection is apparently symbolically apropos for an artist who has navigated her own set of storms in the spotlight yet repeatedly remade herself.
The Mugler connection is deep-seated throughout the project—apparently, Cyrus and Kenneth negotiated “the largest collection of Mugler archives ever sent to one person,” an impressive achievement given the rarity and value of these pieces. Dark, vampy outfits from the designer’s fall 1998 collection appear, their showgirl drama perfectly in keeping with Cyrus’s flair for big statement-making.
What is interesting here is not just the nod to fashion history, but the way Cyrus takes these vintage items and makes them look spectacularly now. This has always been her talent—nodding to the past, but firmly based in the present. The visual album also borrows from made-to-order items, like an Alexander McQueen dress that designer Seán McGirr made for a Hollywood Walk of Fame-themed section, inspired by Lee McQueen’s uninhibited “Savage Beauty” aesthetic.
This fusion of vintage classics with modern pieces of artwork creates a timelessness that seems to be the commonality that ties Cyrus’s new chapter together. Kenneth describes the style as “a richness and depth that feels both modern and timeless,” which could very well be applied to describe Cyrus’s maturation as an artist.
Throughout her career, Cyrus has used fashion as more than mere costume. It’s been a graphic indicator of her versatility, from her goody-goody Disney phase to racy “Bangerz” phase and beyond. This next phase will be an even more sophisticated approach, one that nods to fashion history but stakes her claim within it.
Something Beautiful follows on the heels of Cyrus’s Grammy-winning sequel to “Flowers,” and if the fashion trend is any gauge, we’re witnessing an artist as self-assured as she has ever been creatively. The visual album format allows her to pursue fully her artistic vision, playing both musician and director in a way that few pop musicians have been able to do.
Challenged to guess what fans can expect once Cyrus finally gets around to playing these songs in the flesh, Kenneth gives an interesting guarantee: “You can expect to be kept utterly gagged. Believe me!”
Granting Cyrus his own past history of makeover and new status as the pop universe’s most enduring transformation, we’re willing to take him at his word. May 30th can’t come soon enough.
