Since announcing her ninth album, Miley Cyrus made it clear that everything would be imbued with beauty. It's in the title, Something Beautiful; in the first single, Prelude, a piece blending symphonic and electronic elements with the singer's raw voice narrating, saying "the beauty one finds is just a prayer longing to be shared"; and also in her public statements: "The most unpleasant moments of our lives have a point of beauty. They are the shadow, the coal, the shading. You can't have a painting without lights and contrasts," she stated in the cover interview of last December's issue of Harper's Bazaar.
Building upon this beauty, Miley Cyrus is constructing a diva concept that has shattered the image of the young star she once was publicly known as. Gone is the naivety of Hannah Montana and even less the adolescent punk impulse that accompanied her when she broke away from that character. Today, her aspirations are to become a timeless star while remaining anchored in the present. As her hairstylist, Bob Recine, who had already been part of Andy Warhol's inner circle, stated, we are facing "a chameleon." One who now aims to rise to the pop pulpit alongside Beyoncé and Lady Gaga.
And there is an important name in all of this: Thierry Mugler. For Something Beautiful, set to be released as an album on May 30 and accompanied by a musical film on June 6, the singer has received the largest loan from the French designer's archive that any single person has ever had, as revealed in an interview in Vogue by her stylist, Bradley Kenneth. Despite featuring 13 original tracks, the artist's ninth album has been designed from a purely visual conception, as she has emphasized.
On the album cover, Cyrus wears a look from the Les Insects collection that Thierry Mugler presented in the spring of 1997, inspired by the shimmer of dew on a spider web. Several pieces in her project belong to another collection by the French designer, from the fall of 1998, and the singer herself has expressed her fascination with the 1995 haute couture show where Mugler presented 300 looks featuring stars like Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Tippi Hedren, Patty Hearst, Jerry Hall, and Claudia Schiffer.
The choice of Mugler also carries an important message in the music industry. The French designer was responsible for designing much of the wardrobe that Beyoncé wore during her I am... tour in 2009 and 2010. He created 72 pieces for that tour and also served as a creative advisor, contributing to the overall show design. At the start of that tour, the Texan singer appeared clad in a golden armor, very similar to the one Zendaya wore at the premiere of Dune: Part 2, also a creation of Mugler.
Lady Gaga is the other major pop diva associated with the French designer's brand and the golden armor. The one she wears in the "Paparazzi" music video is by Mugler, and the designs in "Telephone," her collaboration with Beyoncé, are also his creations. Additionally, Nicola Formichetti, the creator of the artist's aesthetic - including the famous raw meat dress at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards - served as the brand's creative director for two years, from 2011 to 2013. In her Paris debut in March 2011, the Californian star stole the show, strutting to the beat of Govermment Hooker and Born This Way while perched on endless platforms.
This trio is what Miley Cyrus aims to complete, clinging to Mugler and drawing inspiration from various sources. Beyond just style, the singer will incorporate the seventies aesthetic and sound she has embraced in recent times, or echoes of the surrealistic film Pink Floyd: The Wall from 1982.
And at the center of it all, like a ubiquitous presence, is beauty.