Fashion Design
King specialised in good-quality separates and day-into-evening looks, which proved versatile and good value during the Great Depression. 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.
King signed a licensing partnership with Lord & Taylor, the first department store to sell her ready-to-wear garments. In 1936, Muriel King was featured alongside Elizabeth Hawes and Clare Potter 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, but despite being the author Margaret Mitchell's favourite, failed to win the job (which went to Walter Plunkett). She also created film clothes for Rita Hayworth, Margaret Sullavan, and Ginger Rogers.
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 and other West Coast aerospace firms, called Flying Fortress Fashions.
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