David Hoyle gives you a lesson in ‘How to wear Mugler’.
David Hoyle has been challenging conventions and redefining performance art for decades, blending drag, theatre, and social commentary into his unmistakable voice. From his early television work in the ’90s to his recent groundbreaking collaboration with luxury fashion house Mugler, Hoyle continues to push boundaries, proving that creativity thrives far beyond the traditional London spotlight. In this interview, he shares insights into his latest projects, the intersection of fashion and performance, and the inspirations that keep him going.
Perfect: Okay, we'll get straight into this. How are you, David?
DH: Well, I'm very well, thank you. I keep going, as I always say, you know, and that's what it's all about. We've got to keep going.
Perfect: What are you up to today?
DH: Well, a car will be arriving quite soon to take me off to Middlesbrough because I'm going to be doing a show in Middlesbrough later for the Curious Arts Festival. Wonderful. And then tomorrow night I'll be doing a show in Newcastle itself at the Live Theatre.
Perfect: Okay, David, I was going to ask you about your new Mugler campaign.
DH: Oh yeah, well, it's been absolutely amazing. It's been a fantastic honor and a privilege to do.
Perfect: It's one of the first times I've seen drag translated to social media so effectively.
DH: Fascinating how, you know, that's what's happened. Social media and TikTok and all that stuff. It's replacing the old-fashioned ideas of advertising and getting information across.
Perfect: It's had millions of views. So you just want to start off by saying, in your own words, could you just describe the collaboration.
DH: Well, I'd say at first of all it was such a lovely surprise, you know, and also, of course, I had heard of Mugler and the wonderful reputation. So to be granted this opportunity was amazing, plus the fact I was able to work with my friend Lee Baxter and choose a team of people that I could work with. And also what was important, Sid, was that we made it in the northwest of England, you know, and to prove that you can make high quality work and art, if you will, in the northwest. Not everything has to be London centric. That was very important to me.
Perfect: I was going to ask straight away, how did it come about with Mugler? So did he reach out to you?
DH: He did. We had a Zoom meeting, and that was lovely. And he'd obviously seen my work from the 90s on the television and it had made an impression. And he vowed that one day he'd like to work with me, so getting the position that he did, doing so well, he was able to get in touch with me, and the rest is history. So beautiful.
Perfect: And were you kind of aware of what your relationship was like with the brand’s legacy?
DH: You know, they were very innovative and all the rest of it. I’m not going to pretend to have an encyclopedic knowledge of their legacy, but I knew enough about them that they were always to do with excitement and theatricality and a certain amount of fun, and were very important in the fashion world.
Perfect: One question I had was because we post a lot of fashion campaigns, and this campaign really felt to me as though it cut through all of them and was actually doing something different.
DH: Taking a gamble, making a gamble.
Perfect: Was this the kind of discussion that you wanted with Miguel? Just, we want to do this completely differently?
DH: It doesn't have to be on a kind of celebrity model. He gave me creation freedom, which was amazing. And so I was able to work with Lee Baxter, who I’ve worked with for years — he’s a close personal friend and he does my photography and promotional films for my own work — so that was amazing. Licorice Black helped with the styling, alongside Nikki. It was a lovely team.
Perfect: Have you done much work with any big luxury fashion houses before?
DH: Well, I’ve got the support of, and I’d attracted the interest of Rick Owens, so I’m still in touch with Rick from time to time. That was a lovely surprise too, and he took me out to dinner in London and we really got on. And I’ve worked for Michele Lamy before now. Of course, I’ve been involved in a few projects with her in Paris, so there is that. And I have to say that the fashion world is very receptive to me, and I’ve had more opportunities and they’ve had more faith in me, I think, than the more orthodox art world, really.
DH: Because they are prepared to take risks and to have a gamble, and it can work out, but people have to take a chance sometimes.
Perfect: So in a couple of videos, you mentioned the 192 bus. I was curious.
DH: Right. Well, it goes right from Manchester Piccadilly Gardens and it goes straight to Stockport and I think beyond actually, but it goes up Stockport Road, so it’s quite a key journey to be on and it’s of huge sociological interest, that’s all I can say. You just never know what environment you’re going to be stepping onto. It might be loud music, people might have been enjoying, shall we say, herbal cigarettes. So by the time you get to Piccadilly, you’re quite high, and it’s just wonderful, and it’s got so much life.
Perfect: Are you a fan of bird watching as well?
DH: I am, yes, definitely. I was a member of the Young Ornithologist Club as a child, and I think that was a wonderful way of escape, really. That’s how I saw it, and to try and learn all the different things. Birds.
Perfect: Did you have a favourite video from the shorts?
DH: Well, I liked the art one, “How to dress for creation in an artwork,” because Licorice Black did my hair and I think that’s my favourite coffer. My favourite hairstyle. I think that hairstyle should become obligatory for everybody.
Perfect: And in the luxury fashion landscape, do you think brands in some way have a responsibility to engage with performance and performance artists such as yourself?
DH: Definitely, definitely. Because a performance artist can make the costumes and the clothing come alive, and there is a theatricality to it all. I mean, we’re all the stars of our own film, aren’t we? And we direct ourselves, reproduce ourselves, we costume ourselves, and so I think it’s a distillation of that, really. I mean, we might have certain items that maybe make you feel more cheerful or happier or you think, oh, this is more representative.