LONDON — She was never a megabrand, her clothing didn’t have much hanger appeal and during her entire career, she never had a stand-alone store.
But Jean Muir, who died in 1995, left behind a gilded legacy, a growing fan base and a business that continues to thrive under her longtime design team, who are still “engineering in cloth,” as Muir often described her work.
Muir’s fashion heirs — her husband, Harry Lueckert; the design team, and her former personal assistant, who is now the company’s sales and marketing director — are not only carrying Muir’s fashion torch, they’re running with it.
In late November, the company launched the first book about Muir, to mark the 40th anniversary of the designer’s initial collection, and there are plans to open a second Jean Muir store, in New York, as early as next year.
The first store, a 1,800-square-foot space, opened only two years ago on 48 Conduit Street, just off Bond Street here. It’s filled with Muir signature styles: silk jersey and wool crepe pieces, fluid leathers and suedes, and enough black dresses to last any woman a lifetime.
Muir was all about designing for the body and for movement, for the feel and texture of the cloth — and it didn’t matter to her whether she was dressing a size 8 or a size 14.
The book, “Jean Muir: Beyond Fashion” (Antique Collectors’ Club), was written by Sinty Stemp, a longtime Muir collaborator who is now the firm’s sales and marketing director. The book is due out in the U.S. at the beginning of 2007.
“I’d long wanted to write a book about Miss Muir,” said Stemp, who still refers to the designer with the name she always preferred. “I’d worked so closely with her and given so many lectures about her work. And then we were approached by the publisher.”
The 175-page coffee-table book is dense with photos, sketches and essays that trace Muir’s path from directional Sixties designer — alongside Mary Quant, Zandra Rhodes and Ossie Clark — to commercial and public success story in the Seventies and Eighties, and finally to the celebrated figure who worked to promote the British fashion and design industries.
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During her career, Muir won accolades from everyone from Bill Blass to Pierre Bergé and the late Franco Moschino, and her fan base in England included British art, film and literary types, such as Lady Antonia Fraser; “Absolutely Fabulous” actress Joana Lumley, who was once Muir’s house model; sculptor Elizabeth Frink; Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench and Samantha Bond.
Muir was made a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II and inducted into the British Fashion Council’s Hall of Fame shortly before her death from cancer 11 years ago.
Stemp said Muir’s fans still come into the shop, asking for repairs or alterations on beloved leather jackets and jersey dresses that are 10 or even 20 years old.
Stemp spends a lot of the book talking about Muir’s fabrics, techniques and manufacturing and design ethos. Muir was a woman who took image and dressing — rather than fashion — very seriously.
“Proper attention to dress is a sign of self-respect and respect for the order of things,” Muir is quoted as saying in the book. “I’ve always hated fashion hanging on a skirt length. It’s a pity these things are put on fashion.”
She also treated her business, which her husband continues to oversee, with care. “Clothes aren’t fun and games,” she once told WWD. “This isn’t a silly, frivolous business.”
But throughout her life and still today, the size of Muir’s business never matched her influence. Jean Muir’s sales in 2005 — the latest figure available — were 2.5 million pounds, or $4.82 million at current exchange.
The Scottish Muir was famous for her rigor and perfectionism 24 hours a day. Her wardrobe was almost all navy blue, her hair always styled into a neat bob and her environment was pure and uncluttered. She lived in an all-white apartment opposite Royal Albert Hall in Kensington and worked in an all-white studio, which was known for its immaculate order and space. Her staff rapidly became “Muir-ized,” sporting the neat haircuts, clothing and disciplined working style of their boss.
“She was a bit like a dancer — very precise about everything. I respected her so much,” said designer Tamsin de Roemer, who was Muir’s house model for nearly 15 years and who now has her own cashmere knitwear, fine jewelry and accessories label.
De Roemer said Muir was an inspiration to her in many ways. “She taught me about attention to detail and about discipline and order in the workplace,” she said, adding that Muir would sometimes make staff line up pins to drive home the importance of neatness.
In the book, Stemp — who looks so much like Muir, she could be her sister — said she wanted to unearth some forgotten facts about the designer for a new and younger public. That public is snapping up Muir’s old designs on eBay and in vintage shops, including Didier Ludot in Paris. And, apparently, Sienna Miller cannot get enough of her vintage Muir suede cape.
“Miss Muir didn’t just design in black and navy. She loved color and glitter effects. She reinvented jersey as a fabric for young women and manufactured in Britain, using British fabrics,” said Stemp.
Muir worked with British silversmiths and enamelers to create belts, buttons — some of her garments had sterling-silver ones — and quirky embellishments for her clothes.
“Her handwriting was so distinctive and different, and there were so many young designers who were taught, trained and molded by her,” said Stemp. “Her clothing doesn’t really have hanger appeal — it’s all about the feel and cut. Women get hooked.”
Stemp said she hopes she has done her legendary boss justice. “I tried to make it the book she herself would have liked. I think what she’s done is unequaled.”