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Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the
Victoria and 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 ...
in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at
Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the ...
around 1950.
is a British fashion designer and fashion icon. She became an instrumental figure in the 1960s London-based Mod and youth fashion movements. She was one of the designers who took credit for the miniskirt and hotpants.
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 ' ...
Barbara Burma
accessed 12 July 2012 "Carter, Ernestine Marie (1906–1983)" profile, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004
oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
wrote: "It is given to a fortunate few to be born at the right time, in the right place, with the right talents. In recent fashion there are three:
Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chane ...
,
Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds 42.36% shar ...
, and Mary Quant."


Early life

Quant was born on 11 February 1930 in Blackheath, London, the daughter of Welsh teachers. Her parents, Jack and Mildred Quant, were both from mining families; however, they had been awarded scholarships to grammar school and had both attained first-class degrees at
Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...
before they moved to London to work as school teachers. Quant went to
Blackheath High School Blackheath High School is an independent day school for girls in Blackheath Village in southeast London, England. It was founded in 1880 as part of the Girls' Day School Trust; the Senior School occupied a purpose-built site in Wemyss Road fo ...
. For college, her desire had been to study fashion; however, her parents dissuaded her from that course of study, and she instead studied
illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...
and art education at
Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the ...
for which she received a degree in 1953. In pursuit of her love for fashion, after finishing her degree, she apprenticed with Erik, a high-end
Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...
milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...
on Brook Street next door to
Claridge's Claridge's is a 5-star hotel at the corner of Brook Street and Davies Street in Mayfair, London. It has long-standing connections with royalty that have led to it sometimes being referred to as an "annexe to Buckingham Palace". Claridge's Hot ...
hotel.


Fashion career

Quant initially sold clothing sourced from wholesalers in her new boutique. The bolder and more unique pieces in her collection started garnering more attention from media like ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the ...
,'' and an American manufacturer purchased some of her dress designs. Because of this attention and her personal love for these bolder styles, she decided to take designs into her own hands. Initially working solo, she was soon employing a handful of sewing machine operators; by 1966 she was working with a total of 18 manufacturers. A self-taught designer inspired by the culture-forward 'Chelsea Set' of artists and socialites, Quant's designs were riskier and more unique than standard styles of the time. Quant's designs revolutionized fashion from the utilitarian wartime standard of the late 40s to the energy of the 50s and 60s' cultural shifts. She stocked her own original items in an array of colours and patterns, such as colourful
tights Tights are a kind of cloth garment, most often sheathing the body from the waist to the toe tips with a tight fit, hence the name. They come in absolute opaque, opaque, sheer and fishnet styles — or a combination, such as the original concep ...
. Quant's impact did not just come from her unique designs; in her boutique, Bazaar, she created a special environment, including music, drinks, and long hours that appealed to young adults. This environment was unique for the industry, as it differentiated from the stale department stores and inaccessible high-end designer store environments that had a hold of the fashion market. Her window displays with models in quirky poses brought a lot of attention to her boutique, where people would often stop to stare at the eccentric displays. She states, "Within 10 days, we hardly had a piece of the original merchandise left." For a while in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Quant was one of only two London-based high-end designers consistently offering youthful clothes for young people. The other was Kiki Byrne, who opened her boutique on the
King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...
in direct competition with Quant.


Quant and the miniskirt

The miniskirt, described as one of the defining fashions of the 1960s, is one of the garments most widely associated with Quant. While she is often cited as the inventor of the style, this claim has been challenged by others.
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'', ' ...
, a contemporary fashion journalist and editor of the influential "Young Ideas" pages for UK ''Vogue'', firmly stated that another British fashion designer, John Bates, rather than Quant or André Courrèges, was the original creator of the miniskirt. Others credit Courrèges with the invention of the style. However, skirts had been getting shorter since the 1950s—a development Quant considered practical and liberating, allowing women the ability to run for a bus. Quant later said: "It was the girls on the
King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...
uring_the_"Swinging_London"_scene.html" ;"title="Swinging_London.html" ;"title="uring the "Swinging London">uring the "Swinging London" scene">Swinging_London.html" ;"title="uring the "Swinging London">uring the "Swinging London" scenewho invented the miniskirt. I was making easy, youthful, simple clothes, in which you could move, in which you could run and jump and we would make them the length the customer wanted. I wore them very short and the customers would say, 'Shorter, shorter.'" She gave the miniskirt its name, after her favourite make of car, the
Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...
, and said of its wearers: "they are curiously feminine, but their femininity lies in their attitude rather than in their appearance ... She enjoys being noticed, but wittily. She is lively—positive—opinionated." The fashion model
Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...
would popularise the miniskirt abroad. In addition to the miniskirt, Quant is often credited with inventing the coloured and patterned
tights Tights are a kind of cloth garment, most often sheathing the body from the waist to the toe tips with a tight fit, hence the name. They come in absolute opaque, opaque, sheer and fishnet styles — or a combination, such as the original concep ...
that tended to accompany the garment, although their creation is also attributed to the Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga, who offered
harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the '' zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian '' commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditional ...
-patterned tights in 1962, or to John Bates.Lester, Richard, ''John Bates: Fashion Designer'', London, 2008.


Later career

In the late 1960s, Quant offered short shorts that were the forerunner of hotpants and became a British fashion icon. In 1967 she designed berets in twelve colours for British headwear company Kangol. Quant's berets, featuring her daisy logo, are in her collection at the
Victoria and 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 ...
. Through the 1970s and 1980s she concentrated on household goods and make-up rather than just her clothing lines, including the
duvet A duvet (, ; ), usually called a comforter or (''down-filled'') quilt in US English, and a doona in Australian English, is a type of bedding consisting of a soft flat bag filled with either down, feathers, wool, cotton, silk, or a synthetic a ...
, which she claims to have invented. In 1988, Quant designed the interior of the
Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...
(1000) Designer (originally dubbed the Mini Quant, the name was changed when popularity charts were set against having Quant's name on the car). It featured black-and-white striped seats with red trimming. The seatbelts were red, and the driving and passenger seats had Quant's signature on the upper left quadrant. The steering-wheel had Quant's signature daisy, and the bonnet badge had "Mary Quant" written over the signature name. The headlight housings, wheel arches, door handles and bumpers were all "nimbus grey", rather than the more common chrome or black finishes. Two thousand were released in the UK on 15 June 1988, and a number were also released on to foreign markets; however, the numbers for these are hard to come by. The special edition Mini came in two body colours, jet black and diamond white. In 2000, she resigned as director of Mary Quant Ltd, her cosmetics company, after a Japanese buy-out. There are more than 200 Mary Quant Colour shops in Japan.


Recognition

In 1963 Quant was the first winner of the Dress of the Year award. In 1966 she was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(OBE) for her outstanding contribution to the fashion industry. She arrived at
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
to accept the award in a cream wool jersey minidress with blue facings. In 1990 she won the Hall of Fame Award of the British Fashion Council. She was appointed a
Dame ''Dame'' is an honorific title and the feminine form of address for the honour of damehood in many Christian chivalric orders, as well as the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system and those of several oth ...
(DBE) by Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...
in the
2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...
for services to British fashion. Quant received an honorary doctorate from
Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...
in 2006. In 2009, the miniskirt designed by Quant was selected by the
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for their "British Design Classics" commemorative postage stamp issue. In 2012, she was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...
'' album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of his life. Quant is a
fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
of the Chartered Society of Designers, and winner of the Minerva Medal, the society's highest award.


Books by Quant

*1966: ''Quant by Quant'' — her first autobiography *1984: ''Colour by Quant'' *1986: ''Quant on Make-up'' *1999: ''Classic Make-up and Beauty Book'' *2011: ''Mary Quant: Autobiography'' — her second autobiography


Trivia

*In the 1966
Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...
song "Sunny South Kensington", Quant and
Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
's drug use/abuse is immortalised in the lyric "Jean-Paul Belmondo and-a Mary Quant got stoned, to say the least". *French musician Laurent Voulzy dedicated a song to Quant on his 2001 album ''Avril'' *Quant is referenced in the musical number "This Is What We Want" in the 2014 stage musical ''
Made in Dagenham ''Made in Dagenham'' is a 2010 British comedy-drama film directed by Nigel Cole and starring Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike, Andrea Riseborough, Jaime Winstone, Daniel Mays and Richard Schiff. It ...
'', based on the 2010 film of the same name.


Personal life

She met her future husband and business partner, Alexander Plunket Greene, grandson of Harry Plunket Greene, in 1953. They were married from 1957 until his death in 1990, and had a son, Orlando (b. 1969).


See also

*
Daisy Daisy, Daisies or DAISY may refer to: Plants * ''Bellis perennis'', the common daisy, lawn daisy or English daisy, a European species Other plants known as daisy * Asteraceae, daisy family ** '' Euryops chrysanthemoides'', African bush daisy ** ' ...
, doll designed by Quant


Notes


References


Further reading

* Sandbrook, Dominic. ''White Heat: A history of Britain in the swinging sixties'' (Abacus, 2015) pp. 217–37.


External links

* *
Mary Quant at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Accessed 3 June 2010.
Mary Quant – Miniskirt – Icons of England

Official website of Mary Quant Cosmetics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quant, Mary 1930 births Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London British fashion designers Welsh fashion designers Living people Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Chartered designers People from Blackheath, London People educated at Blackheath High School British women artists Welsh women artists British women fashion designers English people of Welsh descent