Fashion designer and queen of the miniskirt Dame Mary Quant dies aged 93
Iconic fashion designer and champion of the miniskirt Dame Mary Quant has died aged 93.
A statement from her family to the PA news agency said: "Dame Mary Quant died peacefully at home in Surrey, UK, this morning.
It continued: “Dame Mary, aged 93, was one of the most internationally recognised Fashion Designers of the 20th Century and an outstanding innovator of the Swinging Sixties.
"She opened her first shop Bazaar in the Kings Road in 1955 and her far-sighted and creative talents quickly established a unique contribution to British fashion."
The fashion designer was one of the most influential figures in 1960s fashion and is credited with making miniskirts mainstream, and bringing fashion to the masses.
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Mary is credited with making miniskirts mainstream (Getty Images)Paying tribute to the designer, The Victoria & Albert Museum tweeted: "It’s impossible to overstate Quant’s contribution to fashion. She represented the joyful freedom of 1960s fashion, and provided a new role model for young women. Fashion today owes so much to her trailblazing vision."
Former Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman tweeted: "RIP Dame Mary Quant. A leader of fashion but also in female entrepreneurship - a visionary who was much more than a great haircut."
Mary was born to Welsh parents in London in 1930 and despite growing up in an age of austerity, the icon championed fun and women's liberation in her designs.
She set up her first store, Bazaar, on the King’s Road in London’s Chelsea in 1955.
Mary met her future husband Alexander Plunket Greene when she gained a diploma in the 1950s in art education at Goldsmiths College. She was married to him until his death in 1990 and the couple shared a son, Orlando.
Mary, who was also a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers and winner of the Minerva Medal, the society’s highest award, was made an OBE in 1966 for services to the fashion industry.
Mary pictured reading the Daily Mirror newspaper in a rocking chair at home in London in 1967 (Popperfoto via Getty Images)
Mary's 'trailblazing vision' was praised by V&A (Popperfoto via Getty Images)In 2014, she was made a dame for services to British fashion in the Queen’s New Year list and at the time, she said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been awarded this terrific honour. It is extremely gratifying that my work in the fashion industry has been recognised and acknowledged in such a significant way.”
Mary was appointed member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in the New Year Honours list, in 2022.
The special honour is granted to those who have made a major contribution to the arts, science, medicine or government with Sir David Attenborough and Dame Judi Dench among those who have received this honour.
The iconic designer was one of the earliest examples of turning a fashion label into a brand.
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Her logo, a black and white daisy, that she designed, in the 1950s appeared on packaging for her clothes, a cheaper line the Ginger Group that launched in 1963, as well as tights and a successful makeup line.
Describing her legacy, her friend Jasper Conran said: “Mary Quant is, without a doubt, one of the most important British designers ever.”
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