Corsets have never completely gone out of style, but in the last decade they have really come back into the spotlight with the flurry of infamous designers who have tackled the iconic garment and made it their own. More designers are now sending their beautifully stitched creations strutting down the runway. Not to mention the group of beautiful stars who corset for everything from rock concerts to walks down the red carpet.
But behind the big designer fashion houses, who makes all these corsets? Who draws the patterns on the corset and sews on the ruffles, feathers, and sequins? Well, one name stands proud of all the others: Mr. Pearl, who is as exotic in character as his corset design. With an 18-inch waist sculpted from self-made corsets, his silhouette is alarmingly unnatural. An African-born English gentleman originally named Mark Pullin, Mr. Pearl is a reserved man now residing in Paris and working for the many couture houses that require his expert corsetry skills. Now in his forties, he has been in the fashion industry longer than any other corset maker and he is arguably the best corset in the world. Mr. Pearl’s first experience with tight lacing came at a young age when he was helping his grandmother fasten her corsets. He began corset training himself when he was in his early thirties, inspired by another famous tight man, Fakir Musafar. Mr. Pearl says that he is not interested in fashion, but rather is concerned with the idea of the ideal figure: “Corsetry presents infinite possibilities, almost unattainable, it could always be tighter, more beautiful, longer in the front .The limit is physical – Outer appearances are infinite.” – Mr. Pearl
Mr Pearl’s corsets are available to the general public but number in the thousands like any couture garment, wearers of his work include Beyonce and Dita Von Teese. More impressive than the individuals in his corsets, however, are the designers he has worked for. The big fashion houses have turned it around to demand exotic and challenging corseted garments. Mr. Pearl has a team of hard working couture corsets and multiple people work on any one piece. He has worked in fabric, metal, sequins, and various other exotic materials such as resins. My favorite Mr Pearl creations include the little dress Dita Von Teese wore to the Gaultier Fall Winter 2010 show with its black skeletal ribcage and spine over a pale skin tone corset, Sophie Dahl’s beautiful pastel pink dress Spring Summer Gaultier. 10 with its reams of floor-length ribbon laces and the metal “Biker” corset made for Thierry Mugler with its flame paint job and rearview mirrors.