Immortalized by fashion iconography as the originator of the miniskirt, London designer Mary Quant had an art-school background and had been designing and manufacturing her own clothes since the late 1950s. She had one distinct advantage over previous designers: She was a contemporary of her clients. Convinced that fashion needed to be affordable to be accessible to the young, she opened her own retail boutique, Bazaar, on the Kings Road in 1955, introducing the "mod" era and the "Chelsea look."
Quant has claimed that she did not invent the miniskirt, but, the girls who visited her shops did, as they wanted them shorter and shorter. These skirts were also in development by other designers, but Quant's is the name most associated with them. She even named the garments after her favorite make of car: the Mini.
The mid-1960s saw Quant at the height of her fame, when she created the micro-mini and the "paint box" makeup of 1966, and added the shiny, plastic raincoats and little grey pinafore dresses that came to epitomize the 1960s fashion era. She expanded her brand further into a range of original patterned tights, a range of cosmetics and other fashion accessories.
Late 1960s and Beyond
Quant went on to popularize hot pants in the late '60s, and concentrated on household goods, makeup and clothes during the 1970s and '80s. In 1988, she designed the interior of the Mini Designer, which incorporated black and white striped seats with red trimming and seat belts.
In London in the early 1960s the preppy, art and music-inspired Mod movement (in opposition to the leather-wearing rockers), took hold. The pastel hues of the 50s were replaced by bright colours, bold geometric shapes, boxy jackets and patent shoes, with mohair suits for the boys. Model and trend-setter Twiggy became the poster girl for 1960s style, especially the Mod movement, with her pixie hair and almost-cartoonish eye makeup.
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