Groundbreaking British designer Dame Mary Quant has died, her family confirmed in a statement, according to the BBC. It’s been reported that Quant died peacefully at her home in Surrey in southern England in the morning hours of April 13 at the age of 93.
Known as the mother of the miniskirt, Quant left an indelible mark on fashion culture during the era of London’s Swinging Sixties after popularizing rising hemlines with miniskirts and hot pants. In a quote acquired by the BBC, Quant’s family described her as “one of the most internationally recognized fashion designers of the 20th Century and an outstanding innovator.”
Another icon of the era, model Twiggy paid tribute revolutionary designer on social media. “Mary Quant was such an influence on young girls in the late ’50s early ’60s,” she wrote. “She revolutionized fashion and was a brilliant female entrepreneur. The 1960s would have never been the same without her. Condolences to her family, RIP dear Dame Mary.”
Acclaimed journalist and editor Alexandra Shulman wrote, “RIP Dame Mary Quant. A leader of fashion but also in female entrepreneurship- a visionary who was much more than a great haircut.”
The fashion icon was born in south-east London in 1930, and received a degree in art at Goldsmiths College, where she met her husband, Alexander Plunket-Greene.
Known for her “play clothes,” knee-high boots, Mod-era eyeliner and geometric bob, courtesy of Vidal Sassoon, Quant and Plunket-Greene opened their own boutique in 1955 on London’s King’s Road in the center of Chelsea, dubbed Bazaar. Quant filled the shop with bohemian designs, short skirts, pinafores, eclectic jewelry, funky tights, knee-high socks and more.
Whether Quant actually invented the miniskirt has been subject of public debate, with the late French designer André Courrèges hiking up hemlines around the same time. But there’s no doubt Quant’s contributions to the fashion were favorited by the fresh generation at the time of the Youth Quake in London.
In 1967, Quant told The Guardian that “good taste is death, vulgarity is life,” to naysayers who felt miniskirts and short dresses were too scandalous.
According to the BBC, she said in 2014, “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.”
She was named an officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1966 and a dame in 2015 for her services to the British fashion industry.
Eventually, Quant’s designs made there way to America. She started a line at JC Penney, opened boutiques in New York department stores, created Mary Quant makeup and shoes too. By the 1970s, Quant’s brand expanded to bedsheets, paint, stationary, dolls and more.
An arbiter of style, we have Mary Quant to thank for the liberation of fashion.
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