Jim Mullin of JM Couture Reveals His Design Process and Advice On Getting To The Top

Jim Mullin is the perfect example of the amazing possibilities that can happen when the music and the fashion world collide. Born in Texas and raised outside of Dallas, Mullin spent 10 years dominating the radio industry working in Denver with the Howard Stern show. He became one of the youngest managers of Clear Channel at the time but the typical corporate lifestyle was not for him.

Mullin’s love for music came to the forefront as he stepped away from radio to pursue a career as a solo artist writing all his own music and lyrics. His work appeared on MTV Shows like The Real World and Road Rules. This is the point where Mullin transitioned in the fashion world with the JM Couture brand. He made his own concert T-shirts to accompany his music, but they became so popular the brand took on a mind of its own.

Today, you’ve seen this brand on the red carpets at the Country Music Awards, American Music Awards, The Emmys, and The Billboard Awards. Stars like: Janice Dickinson, Actress, model, and former Miss Switzerland Nadine Vinzens, Vannessa Vasquez, Playboy playmate of the year Kennedy Summers, Morgan Stewart of Rich Kids of Beverly Hills, East Los High actress Vivian Lamolli, Demetria McKinney of Real Housewives of Atlanta, Basketball Wives LA star Draya Michelle, Carmen Electra, Dawn Richard, Empire actress Serayah, Bai Ling from “The Crow,” and many more, have been draped in the haute couture brand.

I caught up with Jim Mullin of JM Couture and we chatted about what makes the JM Couture woman, who he’d love to dress, his design process and more! Check out some highlights from our discussion below.

Photo: Jim Mullin Photography

On The JM Couture woman: “The JM Couture woman is a very powerful, strong woman who likes to have fun. Everything that we do we really try to take a look at the demographic, that 21 to 35-year-old woman and what she’s really all about. We try to design around that. I try to make everything that’s going to make the woman look as beautiful as she can.”

On who Mullin would love to dress: “We just dressed Serayah and she was at the Taylor Swift concert. She performed with Taylor Swift and I always loved Taylor Swift because I think she’s just kind of an icon, fashion, celebrity, so we’re working on getting to Taylor Swift. Gwen Stefani, one of my neighbors and good friend of mine is producing a lot of the new Madonna stuff and Paris Hilton, so we’re really just trying to step it up and get to those A-List celebrities. We recently just dressed Janice Dickinson for something that I can’t talk about yet. We’re working now with Carmen Electra and a bunch of bigger names.”

On the design process: “I really look around a lot of pop culture and what’s going on in the world. I judge a lot by what’s coming up in my Facebook feed, what’s going on in the world, what people are thinking about. For LA Fashion Week I did the Illumaniary collection because there’s this pop culture phenomenon with the Illuminati, all these celebrities are flashing triangles over their eyes, in their videos and all this other stuff, so I really wanted to take a lot of those symbols and themes and put it into the clothing. Not supporting it but kind of taking a look at what it is. Sometimes the inspiration comes from fabric. If I see a gorgeous fabric at a fabric store we can go through and I’ll make five or six pieces just because that fabric is so inspiring.”

Photo: Jim Mullin Photography

On how music and fashion influence each other: “You know I really try to work them hand in hand because whenever I do fashion shows I always try to think, because I’ve done so many fashion shows, the music is always what sets the vibe in the room. When you go to a fashion show and they got really boring music, everyone’s kind of yawning, looking around, but if you come out and tell a story with the music, and the clothes, and there’s all this cohesive experience, I think that’s what really sets me apart from the other designers because I create the whole experience. Not only do I do the music and all of the fashion, but I also produce all of the images that you see, if you see big projection images, I do all of the photography, so I really just try to create this experience.”

On the sustainability of the JM Couture brand: “I really want to get into the league of BCBG and the Wildfox, some of those more iconic brands. You really try to emerge at that level from the gates. I’m trying to really put this out there so that we can be an international brand that lasts forever.”

On career advice: “It’s been a struggle. You have to go through the struggle to get to the success and you have to focus on the little wins you get everyday. If you look at the big picture and you just see the end goal, my advice would be just to work as hard as you can everyday to make that goal come true. You have to do it every single day, there can’t be a day that goes by and you’re not doing something to work towards your goal.”

Follow the JM Couture on Instagram @jmcoutureusa, Facebook at jmcouture, and on Twitter @jmcoutureusa.

Follow Glambergirlblog.com on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @Glambergirlblog

Photo: Jim Mullin Photography