Equal parts practical and bold: how Mary Quant created a look for a new way of living

Only the Beatles are more closely tied to the legend that is 60s London swing than Mary Quant. If the Fab Four wrote the soundtrack, Quant designed the look.
Quant, who died peacefully at his home in Surrey aged 93, claimed to have invented the miniskirt. André Courrèges may have quibbled on this, but there is no doubt that it was Quant's vision of what the miniskirt represented that made it not just a garment, but the symbol of a whole new way of life.
< p class="dcr-8zipgp">In Quant's hands, the miniskirt – both practical and daring – was shorthand for a new attitude. She always said she named it after her beloved Mini Cooper. Wearing a miniskirt was her shortcut to life in the fast lane.
Born Barbara Mary Quant to two south London schoolteachers in 1930, the designer graduated from Goldsmiths in 1953, the year of Queen Elizabeth's coronation.
His first store, Bazaar, opened in London in 1955, just a year after rationing ended. the second world war, the capital was looking for a new energy - and Quant had it in spades. She knew instinctively that a new generation wanted to break with history, to live differently from their parents. And she knew that a new attitude required a new wardrobe.

Fashion Apr 14, 2023 0 42 Add to Reading List

Equal parts practical and bold: how Mary Quant created a look for a new way of living

Only the Beatles are more closely tied to the legend that is 60s London swing than Mary Quant. If the Fab Four wrote the soundtrack, Quant designed the look.

Quant, who died peacefully at his home in Surrey aged 93, claimed to have invented the miniskirt. André Courrèges may have quibbled on this, but there is no doubt that it was Quant's vision of what the miniskirt represented that made it not just a garment, but the symbol of a whole new way of life.

< p class="dcr-8zipgp">In Quant's hands, the miniskirt – both practical and daring – was shorthand for a new attitude. She always said she named it after her beloved Mini Cooper. Wearing a miniskirt was her shortcut to life in the fast lane.

Mary Quant advises a customer about a miniskirt at her London store Bazaar.

Born Barbara Mary Quant to two south London schoolteachers in 1930, the designer graduated from Goldsmiths in 1953, the year of Queen Elizabeth's coronation.

His first store, Bazaar, opened in London in 1955, just a year after rationing ended. the second world war, the capital was looking for a new energy - and Quant had it in spades. She knew instinctively that a new generation wanted to break with history, to live differently from their parents. And she knew that a new attitude required a new wardrobe.