Muriel King (1900–1977) was an American fashion designer based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. She was one of the first American fashion designers along with

Elizabeth Hawes Elizabeth Hawes (December 16, 1903 – September 6, 1971) was an American clothing designer, outspoken critic of the fashion industry, and champion of ready to wear and people's right to have the clothes they desired, rather than the clothes ...

and

Clare Potter Clare Potter was a fashion designer who was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1903. In the 1930s she was one of the first American fashion designers to be promoted as an individual design talent. Working under her elided name Clarepotter, she h ...

to achieve name recognition. She also designed costumes for several major films in the 1930s and 1940s.

Early life

Muriel King was born 27 August 1900, in Bayview, Washington. King began her design studies at the Cornish School, now

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914. History Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of ...

, in scenic design under Maurice Browne, co-founder of Cornish's Theater Department, and head designer Thilda Olson—all while attending the University of Washington. She later studied

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

and theatre design at the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts. Afterwards, she went to Paris and worked as a fashion illustrator for magazines such as '' Femina'' and ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. She opened her salon at East 61st Street, New York, in 1932.

Fashion design

King specialised in good-quality separates and day-into-evening looks, which proved versatile and good value during the Great Depression.Press release for the Muriel King exhibition
Fashion Institute of Technology, March 5, 2009 King kept her designs simple and high quality, believing that dresses should just have one detail. Her method of working was unusual, as she was not a formally trained fashion designer, and did not cut, drape or sew. She created fully finished watercolour sketches showing her designs, which her tailors and sewing staff then interpreted into proper garments. In September 1933 King entered a partnership with the department store B. Altman and Company, who sold her clothing through their Shop for American Design. Her collection for that season was inspired by 1400s armour, with a suit costing $250 (equivalent to $4625 in 2015) whilst the Altman's reproduction cost $75 (equivalent to $1387.25 in 2015). King also signed a licensing partnership with

Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...

. In 1936, Muriel King was featured alongside

and

in the second Lord & Taylor "American Look" promotion which championed home-grown American design talent. King went on to design the personal wardrobe for movie actress Katharine Hepburn. From 1935 to 1944, she designed costumes for eight major movies, including two of Hepburn's. She was on the short list to design the costumes for ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

'', but despite being the author

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...

's favourite, failed to win the job (which went to Walter Plunkett). She also created film clothes for

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

, Margaret Sullavan, and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

. During the 1940s, in addition to her Hollywood work, King produced ready-to-wear designs for department stores. In 1943, she created a collection of clothes specially for female factory workers at

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...

and other West Coast aerospace firms, called ''Flying Fortress Fashions''. In 1945, she was hired director of the Fine and Applied Fashion Department at Stephens College, a women's college in Columbia, Mo., and helped establish its fashion program.

Later life

King retired from fashion in 1957 to paint full-time. She died in 1977.

Exhibitions

* ''Muriel King: Artist of Fashion'' at the

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...

, 10 March - 4 April 2009.

Film wardrobe

Muriel King worked on wardrobe for the following films: * '' Sylvia Scarlett'' (1935, Katharine Hepburn's clothes.) * ''

Stage Door ''Stage Door'' is a 1937 RKO film directed by Gregory La Cava. Adapted from the play of the same name, it tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film ...

'' (1937, gowns) * '' Manhattan Merry-Go-Round'', (1937, Tamara Geva's gowns) * '' Appointment for Love'' (1941, Margaret Sullavan's gowns) * '' Back Street'' (1941, Margaret Sullavan's gowns) * '' The Woman in the Window'' (1944) * ''

Casanova Brown ''Casanova Brown'' is a 1944 American comedy romantic film directed by Sam Wood, written by Nunnally Johnson, and starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Frank Morgan. The film had its world premiere in western France after the Allies had li ...

'' (1944) * '' Christmas Holiday'' (1944) * ''

Cover Girl A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a maga ...

'' (1944, gowns)

References

External links

* *
American Ingenuity: Sportswear 1930s-1970s
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Muriel King (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Muriel 1900 births 1977 deaths American fashion designers 20th-century American painters American costume designers Women costume designers American women fashion designers 20th-century American women