Mary Quant, fashion designer and mind behind the miniskirt, has died

Home Fashion Mary Quant, fashion designer and mind behind the miniskirt, has died

Mary Quant, fashion designer and mind behind the miniskirt, has died

written by Savanna Douglas April 14, 2023
Mary Quant, fashion designer and mind behind the miniskirt, has died

Mary Quant, the pioneering British fashion designer credited with popularising the miniskirt, has sadly passed away at the age of 93. In a statement to the PA news agency, her family confirmed that Quant passed away peacefully at her home in Surrey, UK.

An internationally renowned fashion designer of the 20th century, Quant was a leading innovator of the Swinging Sixties and a symbol of London’s Youthquake. With her Vidal Sassoon haircut and reputation as the figurehead for Swinging London, Quant helped establish the mini skirt as the ‘it’ clothing item for a new generation of young women.

Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Quant’s career in fashion

During the 1960s, Quant’s fashion innovations reflected a shift in fashion, putting youth up front for the first time. Her clothes were comfortable, simple, bright, and colourful, taking inspiration from school uniforms and subcultures like the mods.

Photo by PA Images via Getty Images

She designed clothes that appealed to a new generation of young women who had entered the workforce and earned a disposable income to spend on clothes. In her bestselling 1966 autobiography Quant by Quant, she summarised the decade’s shift in fashion, writing that “the young were essentially tired of wearing the same as their mothers.”

Quant was not limited to designing miniskirts; she also championed tights, hot pants, onesies, PVC raincoats.

Photo by Cyril Maitland/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

Quant was an early example of turning a fashion label into a brand. She designed her logo, a black and white daisy, in the 1950s, which went on to appear on packaging for her clothes. A cheaper line, the Ginger Group, launched in 1963, as well as tights and a successful makeup line. Mary Quant Cosmetics, launched in 1966 and remains in existence today.

Quant’s legacy can still be seen in modern fashion. In recent years, she has become popular again among a younger generation. The 2019 exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum was the first in 50 years and in 2021, a documentary, Quant, directed by Sadie Frost, featured names including Vivienne Westwood and Alexa Chung, reflecting Quant’s enduring influence on fashion.

The Victoria and Albert Museum paid tribute to Quant, stating that it was impossible to overstate her contribution to fashion. The museum recently hosted an exhibition about Quant’s designs.

Alexandra Shulman, a former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, also paid tribute to the designer, stating that she was a visionary who was much more than a great haircut.

Celebrities and fashion icons, including Twiggy and Pattie Lawson, paid homage to Quant’s contribution to fashion.

 

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A post shared by Twiggy (@twiggylawson)

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Feature Image: Getty

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