Liberty of London
"I didn’t know what sort of career I wanted, so there was no
sense in which I could plan it"
- Jean Muir
In 1950 Muir joined Liberty of London as a junior stockroom
assistant. She quickly transferred to the lingerie department and
then to the new Young Liberty section, where she gained experience
sketching designs for clients.
At that time,
Muir was also making her own clothes at home, teaching herself to
cut patterns and attending life drawing classes.
She left Liberty in 1956 to design for Jaeger and it was there
that she first began to work with wool jersey and knitwear.
Jane & Jane
"Although it seemed to the outside world that I was very much
part of the ‘clothes explosion’ in London…my view was that of an
onlooker, who, by accident of time, coincided with a certain
moment"
- Jean Muir
In 1962, Muir left Jaeger to design her first independent
collection under the Jane & Jane label. In 1964 British Vogue
called Muir ‘one of the young names that are giving the Sixties an
accent all their own’.
Muir’s early designs featured luxury fabrics, colours and
details, with an emphasis on quality craftsmanship. In 1966 she
founded her own company Jean Muir Limited, with her husband Harry
Leuckert.