Fashion Definitions — fashion history, brands and industry terms from Apparel Search
Mary Quant, born February 11, 1934 in Kent, is an English fashion designer who studied illustration at Goldsmith's College before working for a couture milliner. In October 1955 she opened the Kings Road shop Bazaar in London with her husband Alexander Plunkett Greene and accountant Archie McNair. Dissatisfied with the clothes available, she began making her own fun, unusual range, and her ever-shorter skirts led to the miniskirt, one of the defining fashions of the 1960s.
Mary Quant (born February 11, 1934) is an English fashion designer, one of the many designers who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants.
Born in Kent, Quant studied illustration atGoldsmith's College before taking a job with a couture milliner. In October 1955, she teamed up with her husband Alexander Plunkett Greene, and an accountant Archie McNair, to open a clothes shop on the Kings Road in London called Bazaar.
Following the positive reaction to a pair of "mad house pyjamas" designed for the opening, and dissatisfied with the variety of clothes available to her, Quant decided to make her own range of clothing. Initially working solo, she was soon employing a handful of machinists, producing unusual clothes she considered to be fun.
Her skirts had been getting shorter since about 1958 a development she considered to be practical and liberating, allowing women the ability to run for a bus. The miniskirt, for which she is arguably most famous, became one of the defining fashions of the 1960s. The miniskirt was developed separately by André Courrèges, and there is disagreement as to who came up with the idea first.
In addition to the miniskirt, Quant is often credited with inventing the colored and patterned tights that tended to accompany the garment, although these are also attributed to Cristobal Balenciaga.
Irrespective of whether she invented these items, Quant was one of their major popularizes, largely thanks to the fact that Bazaar was a popular haunt for the fashionable "Chelsea Set" of "Swinging London". By 1961, Quant had opened a second Bazaar in Knightsbridge and by 1965 she was exporting to the USA. To keep up with demand, Quant went into mass-production, setting up the Ginger Group.
Quant's popularity was at its peak in the mid 1960s, during which time she produced the dangerously short micro-mini skirt, "paint-box" make-up, and plastic raincoats. She was described as being the leading fashion force outside Paris.
In 1966 Quant was appointed an OBE for services to the fashion industry.
In the late 1960s, Quant launched hot pants, which was her last big fashion development. Through the 1970s and 1980s she concentrated on household goods and make-up.
In 2000, she resigned as director of Mary Quant Ltd., her cosmetics company, after a Japanese buy-out. There are over 200 Mary Quant color shops in Japan, where Quant fashions continue to enjoy some popularity.
Mary Quant has a son, named Orlando. The two lived together in Japan while Mary set up her business there in the late eighties.
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Designer Definition (from U.S Department of Labor)
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Quant's skirts had been getting shorter since about 1958, and the reason given is practical rather than provocative: a shorter skirt was liberating because it allowed women the ability to run for a bus. That explanation matters because it frames the miniskirt as clothing designed around how women actually moved through a city, not simply as a shorter version of an existing garment. The miniskirt became one of the defining fashions of the 1960s, which means a single hemline came to stand for a whole decade's change in dress. Credit for inventing it is shared and disputed. André Courrèges developed the miniskirt separately, and there is disagreement as to who came up with the idea first. Colored and patterned tights, which tended to accompany the garment, are likewise credited both to Quant and to Cristobal Balenciaga. The distinction that holds in every version is between invention and popularization: irrespective of whether she invented these items, Quant was one of their major popularizers, largely because Bazaar was a popular haunt for the fashionable Chelsea Set of Swinging London. A shop in the right place, visited by the right crowd, could turn a new length into a widely worn fashion faster than a couture salon could.
The business grew in clear stages. Bazaar opened in October 1955 after a positive reaction to a pair of mad house pyjamas designed for the opening. Quant initially worked solo, then employed a handful of machinists. By 1961 she had opened a second Bazaar in Knightsbridge, and by 1965 she was exporting to the USA. Exporting created a demand problem that a small workshop could not solve, so Quant went into mass-production and set up the Ginger Group. That sequence — own designs, a second shop, export sales, then mass production — shows a designer moving from making clothes herself to organizing their manufacture at scale while her name remained the selling point. Her popularity peaked in the mid 1960s, when she produced the dangerously short micro-mini skirt, paint-box make-up and plastic raincoats, and she was described as the leading fashion force outside Paris. In 1966 she was appointed an OBE for services to the fashion industry, formal recognition that fashion design was being treated as an industry contribution, not only as taste.
In the late 1960s Quant launched hot pants, her last big fashion development. Through the 1970s and 1980s she concentrated instead on household goods and make-up, a shift from clothing innovation to applying a known name and eye for color to products for the home and the face. In 2000 she resigned as director of Mary Quant Ltd., her cosmetics company, after a Japanese buy-out. Japan remained the strongest continuing market: there are over 200 Mary Quant color shops in Japan, where Quant fashions continue to enjoy popularity. Quant lived in Japan with her son Orlando in the late eighties while setting up her business there, so the Japanese presence was built in person over time rather than licensed from a distance.
Mary Quant was born on February 11, 1934 in Kent. She studied illustration at Goldsmith's College before taking a job with a couture milliner.
Quant opened Bazaar on the Kings Road in London in October 1955, with her husband Alexander Plunkett Greene and accountant Archie McNair. A second Bazaar opened in Knightsbridge by 1961.
Quant is most famous for the miniskirt and is also credited with colored and patterned tights and, in the late 1960s, hot pants. In the mid 1960s she also produced the micro-mini skirt, paint-box make-up and plastic raincoats.