British fashion designer Mary Quant popularized the miniskirt in the 1960s (UK, November 13, 1964). Ronald Dumont/Express/Getty Images
The British designer popularized this garment in the 1960s. He died on Thursday, April 13, at the age of 93.
A ‘Swinging Sixties’ icon, London stylist Mary Quant, who died on Thursday (April 13) aged 93, revolutionized fashion by popularizing the miniskirt, colorful make-up and patterned tights.
If her title, the creator of the mini skirt, has caused many disputes, in particular with the French Andre Courage, then the British woman, without a doubt, participated in the international advertising of short and tight cuts. Mary Quant’s signature personality and style, sculpted by Vidal Sassoon with her signature brunette bangs, helped make her one of the UK’s most popular fashion designers. Women owe him pel-mell, shorts (hot pants), plastic raincoats, “paint box” make-up and waterproof mascara.
Creative bazaar
Born on February 11, 1930 in London, she made her fashion debut with her future husband, Alexander Plunkett Green. He was first attracted by the eccentric style of clothing of a young student he met on the benches of Goldsmiths Art Faculty in London. In 1955, the couple and a friend opened their first store, Bazaar, in the booming Chelsea district. The clothing and accessories store, as well as the restaurant in the basement, became a meeting place for young people and artists. There we find Brigitte Bardot, Audrey Hepburn, the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.
Mary Quant creates dresses and short skirts, simple lines and bright colors, which she delights in staging to create willingly extravagant window displays.
In 1955, Mary Quant opened her first store, Bazaar, with her husband, Alexander Plunkett Green, in the booming Chelsea district. Keystone/Getty Images
“Disgusting!
“Gentlemen in hats were hitting the window of our store with umbrellas, shouting: “Immoral.” and “disgusting”. seeing our miniskirts over tights, but customers flocked to buy,” she wrote in her latest autobiography, published in 2011. The King’s Road, where her shop was located, becomes the site of a parade of girls in miniskirts. All in this characteristic permanent festive atmosphere SwingingLondon: of which Carnaby Street in Soho is another hot spot.
Buoyed by his success, the designer opened a second store in London, partnered with the American department store chain JC Penney, and launched a mass-market line, The Ginger Group. A follower of geometric shapes, polka dots, color contrasts and a play on materials such as PVC, Mary Quant promotes fun fashion without snobbery. “My clothes happened to correspond to teenage fashion, pop, espresso bars and jazz clubs,” he comments in Quant by Quant, his first autobiography, published in 1965.
“She was in the right place at the right time,” explained Jenny Lister, curator of fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum, on the occasion of the 2019 exhibition. The institution, which has about a hundred pieces of clothing. , makeup, underwear, patterns from the stylist. “He had a fearless demeanor and could grab the headlines by talking provocatively about sexuality and his personal life.” Living in Surrey (Southern England), where she died, Mary Quant rarely appeared in public. He had a son, Orlando, and three grandchildren. In 2000, she sold her cosmetics company to the Japanese, whose logo, the flower, has remained her trademark.
Asked what her 80th birthday would be like, she admitted to some nostalgia for the “bubbly and innovativeness” of 1960s London, but judged it “wonderful to be a woman today”. “A new species superwomen appeared,” he rejoiced in his autobiography. “They move like athletes and sit like men with their knees apart. Their children take their mother’s name (…) They are in control.”
Source: Le Figaro
