After graduating high school, she headed to New York University and shortly thereafter began interning at Barneys New York. Before her internship at Barneys, Jackie was lucky enough to intern for the renowned fashion photographer Annie Leibovitz.
“It’s a very serendipitous story, but my neighbor at the freshmen dorm had an older brother who was Annie’s archivist at the time. I showed my portfolio and he was able to help me get an internship there,” Muller remembered.
Her time with Annie prepared her for the internship at Barneys, and after she graduated from NYU, she stayed at Barneys for many years.
“I was at Barneys for a long time until I left to be the women’s director at Kith. At Kith I oversaw both the in-house brand as well as the multi-brand retail side of our business,” Muller said. “It helped me keep one foot in the market where I was still able to curate the best, buzziest brands that were in the world.”
Now, after a full career in the fashion world, Muller has partnered with her husband, Marlon Muller, to create a new brand called Recreational Habits (RH).
Their mission: celebrating the preppy, country-club lifestyle through an inclusive lens. Jackie is Asian American and Marlon is African American; they are excited to have created a brand that welcomes all people into an elite world that has been historically exclusive.
“Because Marlon and I are both people of color, we felt it was important to recreate the visual narrative of the preppy American spirit because it had been exclusive for so long.”
Muller’s past work as associate fashion director at Barneys New York and Marlon’s past work as an investor in the fashion world make them the perfect team to develop and advance a fashion brand. Their clothing emphasizes comfort while not leaving behind the importance of aesthetics. When creating the designs, Muller found inspiration in her youth in Plano.
Recreational Habits’ clothing is an extension of its mission. Each season, they design a capsule based on a club sport. The spring collection launched at the end of April, and is inspired by sailing culture. The products are sold exclusively on the RH website.
Muller and her husband live in Middleburg, Virginia, but their Plano roots still keep them tied to Texas. Jackie has cousins who live in Plano so does her husband whose cousin is Dallas Cowboys’ Hall of Famer Drew Pearson.
“I grew up taking golf and tennis lessons at GleneaglesCountry Club, and riding lessons at Sky Ranch,” Muller said. “The inspiration for RH comes from these cherished memories. The feeling of playing sports mixed with a touch of glamour is the essence we want to capture.”
