Guide Book
Mute by JL — signature style comes across loud and clear
Joanne Lu’s refined take on S.F. fashion.
Joanne Lu, the 29-year-old Chinese-born designer behind the label Mute by JL, isn’t particularly easy to find. Her studio is tucked away in a dead-end alley off Mission Street, on the top floor of a small building among garages and graffiti-clad walls. The tricky location is perhaps the best metaphor for Lu’s place on the local fashion scene — within city limits, yet somewhat removed.
Her two latest offerings, though, are ready to be discovered by local fashionistas. There’s even a summer
coat, something a true San Franciscan would surely appreciate.
Meant to allow “dreamers to have time to dream,” Lu’s spring 2017 collection is about simplicity and sophisticated layers, inspired by piercing, which Lu sees as highly personal. Despite not having one herself, Lu connects to the concept: “Piercing is like a poem in one’s life journal. I put piercing on the items of my collection to mark my life’s journey.
“We create these marks to remember something important to us, and no one can understand what it represents except the person,” she says. “I see clothes the same way, as a personal tool of identification.”
In reality, this means stylish pieces honoring slits and texture; layered tops with ties on the waist; sturdy wrap skirts, and soft cashmere skirts that tie around the hips shirt-like; and printed and buttoned silk dresses. On the Mute by LJ website, where her designs can be bought exclusively, these items are sold alongside Lu’s signature cashmere coats, the first statement piece she introduced. The coat, in pale gray, blue or blush pink, can be separated into a vest and a shorter jacket, thanks to clever tailoring.
“A woman who’s busy traveling for work takes only a small carry-on, so pieces need to be versatile,” she says. “That’s why I make them seamless, from double-faced cashmere.” Her bigger picture is global; a lot of Mute by JL’s online buyers are from New York, London and other places around the world.
Born in Shanghai, Lu graduated
from the fashion design program at the London College of Fashion in 2008, then went back home and picked up internships, apprenticeships and later assistant designer positions at a number of womenswear and menswear labels. It was during that time, she says, that she really discovered “the passion for cutting, materials and technique.”
At the same time, Lu was exposed to the operational side of things, realizing what every idealistic fashion design student sooner or later come to terms with: “Without business knowledge, it’s almost impossible to launch a fashion label.” In 2011, she decided to obtain that education in the country — and, perhaps, city — best known for its business savvy, booking a one-way trip to San Francisco.
She attended the Academy of Art University, majoring in fashion merchandising, and earned a master’s of fine arts degree in 2013. “Instead of always aiming for the ‘modern woman,’ I was really taught to define my brand and target audience,” Lu recalls.
She launched Mute by JL in 2015, and with her last two collections she finally reached her desired balance
of creativity and practicality. The brand name refers to her desire to mute outside influences. Her target audience? “Professional women aged 25-35, empowered and driven, yet peaceful within.”
She adds: “San Francisco does not have a lot of fashion insiders walking around. Everyone here is looking forward to see how San Francisco style will shape when fashion meets high tech, but right now, I haven’t seen anyone doing a really good job of combining these two elements.”
The clothes still carry plenty of San Francisco’s signature utilitarian chic, more function than wow factor, but Lu infuses them with increasingly bold touches of pastels, small details like scalloping and metal rings, and barely-there embellishments.
“I know the women here love a good basic, so I’m giving them that, and slowly introducing additions.” Having learned to think businesslike in a city that cherishes Everlane and North Face, Joanne Lu has created a unique path for herself.