Laverne Cox spun one of Thierry Mugler’s rare archival designs back onto the carpet Saturday, attending the Lifelong Pride Gala at The Sanctuary in Seattle in the fall 2001 Spider dress.
Laverne Cox at the Lifelong Pride Gala in vintage Thierry Mugler in Seattle on Saturday.
Getty Images for Lifelong
Also colloquially referred to as the Tron dress, Cox’s version extended the red-and-black design from the runway to the floor. The sleeveless silhouette followed the body from a plunging V-neckline, with raised red lines laid over the black base in a curved, web-like grid. They tightened across the waist, widened around the hips and dropped into long vertical bands through the skirt, giving Mugler’s anatomical precision a distinctly computerized finish.
Cox kept the footwear in the same severe black palette. Her pointed-toe boots combined a matte panel through the front with shinier sections along the sides and shaft. Ornate drop earrings, long honey-blond waves with bangs and a saturated red lip completed the look.
A model walks the runway during the Thierry Mugler ready-to-wear fall/winter 2001-2002 fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on March 12, 2001 in Paris, France.
Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
The Spider design comes from Mugler’s fall 2001 “Les Fauves” collection, presented in March 2001 as Manfred Thierry Mugler’s final ready-to-wear show. A midi-length version appeared on the runway beneath a black coat lined in red, with the graphic grid continuing over the bust, waist and skirt. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute also holds a related long-sleeve dress from the same season, constructed from synthetic material and metal.
For Cox, the selection was less a one-night archival pull than another chapter in a collection she has built with unusual depth. She reportedly owns over 500 vintage Mugler pieces.
Laverne Cox in vintage Mugler at Disney+’s “A Very Jonas Christmas Movie” World Premiere on Nov. 10, 2025 in New York City.
Kristina Bumphrey
Her recent carpets have made that knowledge visible. Cox revisited Mugler’s fall 1996 collection in a curved black corset for the “A Very Jonas Christmas Movie” premiere last November, following a nude-illusion Mugler gown and vintage centerpiece collar at the 2025 NAACP Image Awards. At the 2024 People’s Choice Awards, she wore a wing-tipped black velvet bustier created in 1988.
Laverne Cox in another vintage Thierry Mugler look at the People’s Choice Awards on Feb. 18, 2024 in Santa Monica, Calif.
Gilbert Flores for Variety
The Seattle appearance joined that fashion history to the purpose of the evening. Lifelong presented Cox with its Pride in Action Award in recognition of her advocacy and impact on LGBTQ+ representation, during a gala raising funds for Lifelong and Seattle Pride.
