Jean Muir: Beyond Fashion is the first book to illustrate the extraordinary career of one of Britain’s most eminent and brilliant fashion designers. Her reputation for originality and style remains unsurpassed, whilst her design influence is as strong as ever. Jean Muir first made her name in London’s swinging sixties, where her impact was immediate and continued through four decades. Her vision and independent spirit pushed back boundaries: she ‘reinvented’ matte jersey as a modern, sexy fabric and used it to create her legendary Little Black Dress, which was copied around the world and so admired by the French that they crowned Muir ‘la nouvelle reine de la robe’. 



Lavishly illustrated with the work of many leading photographers - including David Bailey, Norman Parkinson, Deborah Turbeville and Terry O’Neill - the book also contains a selection of Muir’s original sketches as well as written contributions from many of her friends and contemporaries. Perhaps Muir’s real secret was that she knew how to make every woman look and feel her best. As friend and former house model Joanna Lumley puts it: “Every woman should have a Jean Muir in her wardrobe.”

Visit our Jean Muir: A Fashion Icon exhibition page for more information