FASHION DESIGNER MARY Quant, who was widely credited with popularising the mini skirt which was a staple of 1960s style, has died at the age of 93.
The British designer died peacefully at her home in Surrey this morning, a statement from her family to the PA news agency said.
The statement read: “Dame Mary Quant died peacefully at home in Surrey, UK, this morning.
“Dame Mary, aged 93, was one of the most internationally recognised fashion designers of the 20th century and an outstanding innovator of the Swinging Sixties.”
Born in south-east London in February 1930, Quant was the daughter of two Welsh school teachers.
She gained a diploma in the 1950s in Art Education at Goldsmith’s College, where she met her husband Alexander Plunket Greene, who later helped establish her brand, he died in 1990.
Quant was taken on as an apprentice to a milliner before making her own clothes and in 1955 opened Bazaar, a boutique on the King’s Road in Chelsea.
Her far-sighted and creative talents quickly established a unique contribution to British fashion.
She was one of the most influential figures in the fashion scene of the 1960s and is credited with making fashion accessible to the masses with her sleek, streamlined and vibrant designs.
Among her collection, she is arguably best known for conceiving the mini skirt as well as helping to develop the mod style in the 1960s.
She began experimenting with shorter hemlines in the late 1950s, culminating in the creation of one of the defining fashions of the following decade.
In 2014, Quant, who named the skirt after her favourite make of car, recalled its “feeling of freedom and liberation”.
She said: “It was the girls on King’s Road who invented the mini. I was making clothes which would let you run and dance and we would make them the length the customer wanted.
“I wore them very short and the customers would say, ‘shorter, shorter’.”
Other styles from the 1960s included Peter Pan collars, as well as knitwear, swimwear and accessories and garments made using Butterick patterns.
Quant also revolutionised the high street with hot pants, and trousers for women, as well as accessories, tights and make-up, while using the daisy brand design that became synonymous with her creations.
Her clothes were popularised by Jean Shrimpton, Pattie Boyd, Cilla Black and Twiggy.
In 2014, she was made a dame for services to British fashion in the Queen’s New Year list and was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the most recent New Year Honours list.
The special award is granted to those who have made a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine or government.
In 2021, actress and film producer Sadie Frost created a fashion documentary about the designer called Quant.
Contributions to the biographical film came from prominent figures in the world of fashion such as supermodel Kate Moss, designer Vivienne Westwood, beauty entrepreneur and make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury, designer Jasper Conran and designer Zandra Rhodes.
An exhibition in the V&A museum documenting the first 20 years of her career from 1955 to 1975 is set to open in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum next month following an international tour which included Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Japan and runs in London in 2019 and Dundee in 2020.
At the time, Quant said: “It was wonderfully exciting and despite the frenetic, hard work we had enormous fun.
“We didn’t necessarily realise that what we were creating was pioneering, we were simply too busy relishing all the opportunities and embracing the results before rushing on to the next challenge!”
Following the news of her death, the V&A praised the impact of her “trailblazing vision” on the fashion world.
A tribute posted on the museum’s official Twitter account read: “It’s impossible to overstate Quant’s contribution to fashion.
“She represented the joyful freedom of 1960s fashion, and provided a new role model for young women.
“Fashion today owes so much to her trailblazing vision.”
Alexandra Shulman, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, also described the designer as a “visionary”.
She wrote on Twitter: “RIP Dame Mary Quant. A leader of fashion but also in female entrepreneurship- a visionary who was much more than a great haircut.”
Quant is survived by her son Orlando, three grandchildren and her brother Tony Quant.
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