PARIS, Feb 22, 2008 /FR/ — International fashionistas might be surprised by the news announced two days ago by the house of Thierry Mugler, as she had never tackled menswear as a fashion designer before: Rosemary Rodriguez is now the Creative Director of Thierry Mugler Menswear.

Before she joined the house of Paco Rabanne, where she was first the innovative couturier’s “protégée” and the house’s Creative Director (2000-2006), Rosemary Rodriguez had already collaborated with Thierry Mugler, while the mythic French designer was still at the helm of his eponymous house. Back in the 1990s, Rosemary Rodriguez was the womenswear creative studio manager at Thierry Mugler, after she had occupied the same position at Christian Dior.

Ever since the creative helm at Paco Rabanne had been transferred to Patrick Robinson -to end up in a situation when the house of Paco Rabanne is no longer showing, relying only on various licences and the profits made on fragrances- Rosemary Rodriguez has been really busy.

Since 2006, she has been the Creative Director for the British perfumer Penhaligon’s and has collaborated as a designer with several accessories and womenswear fashion brands.

For instance, although these collaborations are not always put forward by the companies themselves, everybody who attended New York Fashion Week for Spring 2008 remembers how Nicky Hilton took her bow together with Rosemary Rodriguez at the end of her first runway show under the tents at Bryant Park for her own label.

The talented designer, who had undeniably allied innovation with the house’s tradition at Paco Rabanne ,could well be the good match for Thierry Mugler Menswear and “reinvent herself” in this new field for her, tackling the male silhouette with her feminine vision, in a house which she has known very well for years.

The first collection by Rosemary Rodriguez at Thierry Mugler Homme will be sent on the runway in June this year for the Spring-Summer 2009 season.

According to the official press release announcing her arrival, the previous menswear designer, Thomas Engelhart, who has created the menswear collections for three seasons and has not shown on the runway during the Fall 2008 Paris Menswear, has left the house at the term of his contract, unwilling to renew it.

Whether Thierry Mugler will ever be back on the runway as a brand to show a new womenswear collection is not, apparently, in the house’s plans at the moment.

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