The story of J.cricket is that of its novel creator Jimin Lee, a multihyphenate—designer, fashion director, buyer, retailer, entrepreneur—who has long made her mark on the international fashion industry. With J. Cricket, it is not just a matter of understanding, from her vast experience, what women want to wear; Lee is dedicated to creating clothing and accessories that offer solutions to the missing equations in their closets, purposeful designs that provide freedom and never go out of fashion.
Lee’s design philosophy demands a deep dive into each piece, aimed at a full expression of superior craft, function, and aesthetic one expects from potent architecture, art, furniture and interior or product design.
Not on any set timeline, Lee offers series upon series of essential items in free-form shapes one cannot easily find elsewhere. Made to be worn with most pieces already found in a woman’s wardrobe, longevity is key to each J. Cricket item, which is designed to be increasingly lived in and cherished.
Take one of J. Cricket’s first items, the gilet - the sleeveless outerwear - or the shirt: my goal is to give each piece more context, to make each shape far richer, using volume for movement as well as to make a statement —creative innovation and comfort always combined.”
A single item of J. Cricket is designed to take the wearer far, in terms of both time and space. Devoid of trends, each covetable piece in the collection is a forever one, and in its versatility and rich simplicity, meant to transport the wearer, from day to night, play to work, with effortless style.
There is a directive fluidity to the garments, a singular expression of soft power. Working in a painterly palette—Lee keeps pieces light and easy to move in, emphasizing layers and weightlessness, playing with striking combinations of colors and patterns, with endless possibilities for novel combinations.
Core items are updated and carried over, evolving through the designs’ details, providing a renewable resource to a women’s wardrobe, a breadth and luxury to create one’s own personality and look through pieces past, present and future.
Quietly bold and never over-decorated, J. Cricket provides a woman a blank canvas to style her own individual look. Lee starts with the finest fabric, primarily discovered in and up-cycled from high-end mills in Como, Italy, making a conscious choice to re-use precious remnants as well to allow the raw material to inform if not dictate her designs.
With J. Cricket, the focus is on making items that Lee can imagine into form from exquisite and handsome textiles, and doing fewer styles really well. “I think that is how people shop,” says Lee. “They look for that singular desirable item.”