Fashion History 101 | Dame Mary Quant and the Miniskirt
Ah, the mini skirt, it’s one of the biggest trends projected for spring/summer ‘22 but do you know the designer behind this fashion staple?
Dame Mary Quant
is the British fashion designer who put the mini in skirts! She named the iconic skirt after her favorite car, the Mini!
While there are other designers who claim to have created the “mini skirt” first, Mary Quant is the fashion designer who popularized its presence during the youthquake era of the mid to late 1960s. (Extremely short skirts and shift dresses became Quant's trademark and a hallmark of models like Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton.)
These vintage magazine excerpts are a riot! What do you think? Comment here!
Quant’s first boutique was called Bazaar and was located in London’s hip Chelsea neighborhood. This is where artists, musicians, socialites, and even royalty tended to gather and shop. Quant initially filled her boutique with wholesale designs but soon became frustrated with the offerings, she quickly began designing and was an instant success. Her first designs around 1955 to 1962 were based on a hand-to-mouth model where she used the daily profits from her store to purchase fabric and produce garments at break-neck-speed.
Armed with her art school background, milliner apprenticeship, and talented cohorts, Quant offered a then-new shopping experience that was unparalleled. This included a restaurant at the lower level of Bazaar, extended business hours, free drinks, whimsical window displays, and the most important – fresh, original designs. Designs that weren’t mature or matronly, and certainly not reflective of the “establishment.” They spoke to the young people of that era, the counter culture in which they lived and breathed. This is because Quant was a contemporary of her consumers, she was a part of their swinging sixties phenomena. In a lot of ways, Quant’s trajectory is indicative of early street style.
Quant would later open another Bazaar location (she would eventually grow Bazaar into three brick and mortar locations) and extend her range to include hosiery, accessories, cosmetics, and even dolls through mass manufacturing and multiple licensing agreements.
What’s important to note here is that she challenged the preconceived notions of fashion and threw the industry on its head. The democratic shift was drastic and necessary, the focus on couture designers and the rich as tastemakers was no longer. Women didn’t have to dress like their mothers, even through the most basic form of textile use… They could wear jute or jersey and show off their legs!
“I didn’t have time to wait for women’s lib…” - Mary Quant
Mary Quant was convinced that fashion needed to be affordable to be accessible to the young. She is a true pioneer of mass manufacturing. While some people didn’t believe that mass manufacturing is a respected form of fashion design, Mary Quant proves that when you create a product for your customers, inspired by their needs, your success is limitless. Her inspirations were enormous, from scale to proportion, geometry, color, clean tailored lines, sports, beatniks, mod(ernist)s, and most especially the real people around her.
Fashion was no longer a means to conform, it was a tool to utilize in daily life. In a Quant outfit, it didn’t matter where you were from, what accent you had, what class you belonged to, it was all about the moment and where you were going. The Beatles and the Stones provided the soundtrack, Vidal Sassoon provided the haircuts, and Mary Quant dressed them all. Soon the “Chelsea” or “Mod” look became the “London Look” and it was recognized globally thanks to Quant!
Mary Quant is one of my favourite designers of all time and it has been a unique pleasure to share her story with you. Who is your favourite fashion designer? Will you be rocking a mini or micro skirt this spring/summer?
Comment here or reach out on socials!