John Bates (designer) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
John Bates (11 January 1935 – 5 June 2022) was an English fashion designer who, working as Jean Varon, was part of the
From 1953 to 1955, he served in the British Army. Since 1956, Bates apprenticed under Gerard Pipart at Herbert Sidon. From 1959 he began designing under the name ''Jean Varon''.
Bates' work as Jean Varon in the 1960s was particularly modernistic. He designed dresses with bare midriffs, sheer panels, and very short hemlines, and as early as 1962 was designing high-fashion plastic garments. In 1965, one of his dresses with a mesh midriff was chosen as the
at the
in the Victoria & Albert Museum] Accessed 15 March 2010 From 2002 until his death, Bates lived in
/ref>
boutique
A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse".
The term ''boutique'' and also ''d ...
scene that blossomed in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in the 1960s.
Biography
Bates was born inPonteland
Ponteland ( ) is a large village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, north of Newcastle upon Tyne. The name means "island in the Pont", after the River Pont which flows from west to east and joins the River Blyth further downstream, be ...
, Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
, on 11 January 1935. From 1951 to 1952, he worked as a trainee journalist and office assistant in London.
From 1953 to 1955, he served in the British Army. Since 1956, Bates apprenticed under Gerard Pipart at Herbert Sidon. From 1959 he began designing under the name ''Jean Varon''.
Bates' work as Jean Varon in the 1960s was particularly modernistic. He designed dresses with bare midriffs, sheer panels, and very short hemlines, and as early as 1962 was designing high-fashion plastic garments. In 1965, one of his dresses with a mesh midriff was chosen as the Dress of the Year
The Dress of the Year is an annual fashion award run by the Fashion Museum, Bath from 1963. Each year since 1963, the Museum has asked a fashion journalist to select a dress or outfit that best represents the most important new ideas in contempor ...
and donated to the Fashion Museum, Bath
The Fashion Museum (known before 2007 as the Museum of Costume) is housed in the Assembly Rooms in Bath, Somerset, England.
The collection was started by Doris Langley Moore, who gave her collection of costumes to the city of Bath in 1963. The ...
, which in 2006 held a major retrospective show of his work.
One of Bates' most influential champions was Marit Allen
Marit Allen (17 September 1941 – 26 November 2007) was an English fashion journalist and costume designer who specialized in costumes for films. She designed the costumes for several successful Hollywood films, including ''Mrs. Doubtfire'', ' ...
, the editor of British Vogue
British ''Vogue'' is a British fashion magazine published based in London since autumn 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine ''Vogue'' and is owned and distributed by Condé Montrose Nast. British ''Vogue'' editor in 2012 c ...
's Young Ideas spread, who considered Bates the true inventor of the miniskirt
A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...
, rather than Mary Quant
Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at Goldsmiths College around 1950. is a ...
or André Courrèges
André Courrèges (; 9 March 1923 – 7 January 2016) was a French fashion designer. He was particularly known for his streamlined 1960s designs influenced by modernism and futurism, exploiting modern technology and new fabrics. Courrèges d ...
.Garments worn by Marit Allenat the
Victoria & Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, London. Accessed 15 March 2010 Ernestine Carter
Ernestine Marie Carter OBE (née Fantl; 10 October 1906 – 1 August 1983) was an American-born British museum curator, journalist, and fashion writer. She became hugely influential in her roles as women's editor, and later associate editor of ' ...
also observed Bates' originality, noting that the Paris fashion collections for 1967 contained many looks which Bates had done first.
In 1965 Bates designed memorable outfits for Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in '' On H ...
to wear for her role as Emma Peel
Emma Peel is a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series '' The Avengers'', and by Uma Thurman in the 1998 film version. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight. She ...
in '' The Avengers'', including Op-Art mini-coats and accessories in graphic black and white, and a silver ensemble comprising a bra bodice, low-slung trousers, and a jacket. In the same vein he designed a modernistic space-age wedding outfit for Marit Allen in 1966 consisting of a white gabardine
Gabardine
Burberry advertisement for waterproof gabardine suit, 1908
Gabardine is a durable twill worsted wool, a tightly woven fabric originally waterproof and used to make suits, overcoats, trousers, uniforms, windbreakers, outerwear and o ...
mini-coat and matching dress with silver PVC collar and lapels.Marit Allen's wedding outfitin the Victoria & Albert Museum] Accessed 15 March 2010 From 2002 until his death, Bates lived in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
with his partner, John Siggins.John Bates death announcement/ref>
References
Further reading
* Richard Lester, ''John Bates: Fashion Designer'', Antique Collectors' Club, Ltd.; (15 November 2008), *External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, John 1935 births 2022 deaths English fashion designers LGBT fashion designers People from Ponteland