A Mugler Muse: Erica Vanbriel On The SS98 ‘Nipple Ring’ Dress
A conversation with the woman behind one of Mugler's greatest runway looks.
Published
The Clutch is a monthly column written by the fashion aficionado, Hunter Shires, better known online as High End Homo. Keeping up with the ever-evolving fashion landscape can be a daunting task for many, as sifting through archives of runway shows, editorial campaigns, and pop culture requires a significant time investment. Hunter will give you the 411, and is dedicated to doing all the dirty work for you.
With summer happening outside our bedroom windows, I wanted to lean into a specific sheer gown that has not left my mind since the moment I saw it. Erica Vanbriel for Thierry Mugler’s Spring 1998 Couture Show is fashion history's finest. You might as well call her the Thierry Mugler muse.
After going to the Thierry Mugler Couturissime Exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, I got up close and personal with the look I’ve only seen through my lit up phone screen. Erica Vanbriel is a Belgian model and actress. She wore a nipple ring draped dress with a black sheer cape tied together at the neck that created a V like shape accessorized with stacked pearls with her hair in a voluminous salon style. There was this aloof sexiness Erica displayed walking down the runway, you could tell the room was encapsulated by her essence. Let’s ask her about it herself.
Hunter: Hello Erica, where are you speaking with me from today?
Erica: I’m in Belgium right now visiting family, but I live in Canada.
Hunter: What was your relationship like with Mr. Mugler?
Erica: Well, I think I started there when I was 16 or 17. He really liked me, so I started working at the house as a fit model. With every big show, I was hired including the Cirque D'Hiver Fall/Winter 1995 show which was the year of Mugler with James Brown and Jerry Hall. He wanted me for every show, and fit the clothes to me. He was really kind and nice to me, lol I even had a crush on him.
Hunter: I mean who doesn’t have a crush on him? He’s my lockscreen on my phone right now.
Erica: I started going to Paris for months on end. I wasn't living there, but it felt like I was living there.
Hunter: What were the hours?
Erica: If it was the off-season, I think we would finish around 10 or 11pm. But if it was before a show, we would be there til 5 in the morning. And then the next morning, we would have to be there at 7:30am.
Hunter: Oh my god, the dedication. How did the nipple ring dress come to be?
Erica: I had my nipples pierced and I guess the word spread very fast. Next thing I knew, Thierry said I have a dress for you and I’m going to hang it off your nipples. It’s going to be a light muslin material. Thierry got really excited, and then I got really excited. Thierry thought it was a great idea, and he was aiming for a greek goddess style.
Hunter: The gay child in me is screaming. Did you have any say in the construction of the dress? How heavy or light it would be?
Erica: I didn't have a say in it. But I did tell him that it would have to be light, but he knew that it would have to be extremely light because he had nipple piercings himself. And it was extremely light, and so it was made so it would sit on my hips so that the whole train wouldn’t pull so much on my nipples.