Mugler 'Stardust Aphrodite' Spring 2026 Ad Campaign

Review of Mugler Spring 2026 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Miguel Castro Freitas with Photographer Robi Rodriguez with models Agel Akol, Arina Hulik, & Fi James

Miguel Castro Freitas opens his first campaign for Mugler with a clear shift in tone. Stardust Aphrodite trades spectacle for atmosphere, reimagining the house’s legacy of power and transformation through a cinematic lens. The campaign frames its women not as provocateurs, but as figures of poise and control – cool, composed, and always commanding the frame.

Photographed by Robi Rodriguez, the campaign moves between brutalist interiors and industrial cityscapes, grounding the clothes in a world that feels architectural and psychological. There are nods to 70s noir, Hitchcock, and pulp thrillers, but with the visual restraint of modern editorial. Akol stands in a molded leather dress against a glass wall overlooking a city; another image catches a lemon-yellow gown caught mid-stride behind a parking gate, obscured and arresting all at once. The lighting flickers between soft day and grainy night, reinforcing a tension that underpins the whole campaign.

That ambiguity is part of the campaign’s impact. Where the Spring 2026 runway collection reasserted Mugler’s commitment to craft, tailoring, and restraint, the campaign repositions those same ideas within a narrative frame. The latex, razor-sharp suiting, and sculptural silhouettes remain, but the styling and set design shift the mood entirely. There’s tension, but it’s quiet – built through angles, eye lines, and mise-en-scène rather than exposure.

Freitas’ concept of “identity and transformation” takes shape here through control rather than overt performance. The hair and makeup suggest classic screen references – platinum curls, dark lips, pin-up liner – but the women don’t feel nostalgic. They’re composed and unreadable, intentionally withholding. The result is a cool, deliberate energy that resists simplification.

The campaign isn’t about spectacle – it’s about establishing a world. And that world, while visually compelling, also feels like a deliberate clearing of the stage. The Mugler woman is still powerful, but now she’s part of something slower, more architectural, and rooted in mood. Less provocation, more presence.

As the first in a planned trilogy, Stardust Aphrodite sets a strong foundation. Castro Freitas isn’t just reviving house codes – he’s giving them a context, a setting, and a cast. The story has only just started.