Clothing design can have an enormous impact on culture. A garment can change attitudes and empower those who wear it. Dame Mary Quant knew this well. The British fashion designer popularized the miniskirt and is often credited with inventing it. Her design defined the London style in the 1960s and was hugely influential on the youth culture at that time. Quant’s lasting legacy is coming into renewed focus as she sadly passed away on April 13, 2023, at the age of 93.
Quant famously said, “Good taste is death,” and “Vulgarity is life.” This perspective—to push the envelope and defy social norms—inspired her to break the mold of 1950s fashion. She disliked the structured garments that were popular among fashion designers, which included nipped waists and voluminous skirts. Quant felt they were too limiting, especially to young women during the second wave of feminism.
The art school graduate bought fabric and designed her own pleated miniskirts, among other garments including shift dresses and shirts with Peter-Pan collars. She opened up a London boutique named Bazaar, and it’s there she sold her designs. Quant also cultivated a shopping experience that was unlike department stores at the time; music, free drinks, and mannequins holding guitars brought people inside. It helped propel her to global success, and her aesthetic was seen on models like the iconic Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton.
Quant became a household name in the 1980s, particularly in the UK. She eventually came to the U.S. where she had a fervent fan base and launched a Mary Quant line with beauty and home products that went well beyond the miniskirt. Her fame cemented her as an early fashion expert, long before the advent of social media influencers.
Vitally, Quant’s daring foray into miniskirts shows clothing as a vehicle for change. Our outward expressions can reflect our inner changes and desires. And when a style is worn en mass, it sends a powerful message about our collective values and what should be possible. For wearers of the miniskirt, that meant freedom from stuffy norms expected of women at the time. Of course, Quant innately understood this. In a 1985 Thames TV interview, she said, “Fashion is about life. It’s about everything…I think fashion anticipates. It seems to get there first and everything unravels behind it.”
Dame Mary Quant was a British fashion designer who popularized the miniskirt and is often credited with inventing it. She passed away on April 13, 2023, at the age of 93.
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Her design defined the London style in the 1960s and was hugely influential on the youth culture at that time.
Quant famously said, “Good taste is death,” and “Vulgarity is life.” This perspective—to push the envelope and defy social norms—inspired her to break the mold of 1950s fashion.
She designed her own pleated miniskirts, among other garments including shift dresses and shirts with Peter-Pan collars.
It helped propel her to global success, and her aesthetic was seen on models like the iconic Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton.
View this post on Instagram
Quant’s daring foray into miniskirts shows clothing as a vehicle for change.
View this post on Instagram
“Fashion is about life,” she said. “It’s about everything…I think fashion anticipates. It seems to get there first and everything unravels behind it.”
h/t: [HuffPost]
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