Mary Quant, who brought skirt hemlines way above the knees during the Swinging Sixties and revolutionized fashion, has died at age 93.
In 1955, Quant, her friend Archie McNair, and future husband Alexander Plunket Greene opened the London boutique Bazaar right out of art school and turned it into a center of bohemian Chelsea life.
Via the New York Times:
When she couldn’t find the pieces she wanted, Ms. Quant made them herself, buying fabric at retail from the luxury department store Harrods and stitching them in her bed-sit, where her Siamese cats had a habit of eating the Butterick patterns she worked from.
Profits were elusive in those early years, but the boutique was a hit from the get-go, with young women stripping the place bare on a near-daily basis, sometimes grabbing new clothing from Ms. Quant’s arms as she headed into the store. She and Mr. Plunket Greene ran it like the coffee bars they frequented: as a hangout and a party at all hours, with a background of jazz.
And they made their window displays a performance, too, with mannequins designed by a friend to look like the young women who were shopping there — “the birds,” in Ms. Quant’s words, using the parlance of the times — figures with sharp cheekbones, mod haircuts and coltish legs, sometimes turned upside down or sprayed white, some with bald heads and round sunglasses, clad in striped bathing suits and strumming guitars.
Her 1966 autobiography Quant by Quant lays out her philosophy and was reprinted a few years ago. She was born in 1930 and met her future husband in art school when they were 16.
Quant was not only one of the early celebrity designers, she also was an innovator in the gender revolution, bringing out lines of makeup for both women and men. When they came to the States, Quant and her team had to have a police escort, revered like musicians from the British Invasion.
This episode about Quant is a great introduction to her life and philosophy:
In 1963 Plunket Green and Quant launched the mainstream label Ginger Group, making their looks available to a wider audience. They later expanded to the US as well.
Her iconic work like original pieces from her “Wet Collection” are held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, including her rare Christopher Robin rain smock made of vivid synthetics:
Rest in power, Ms. Quant! Artist, revolutionary, and inspiration for the do-it-yourself aesthetic that has inspired fashion and drag ever since!
Images: King Collection / Avalon
