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'{{Infobox fashion designer |image= ||name = Mary Quant OBE |caption= |nationality=[[Welsh people|Welsh]] |birth_date={{Birth date and age|1934|2|11|df=y}} |birth_place= [[Blackheath, London]], England |death_date= |death_place= |education= [[Goldsmith's College]] |label_name = '''Mary Quant''' |website= [http://www.maryquant.co.uk/ www.maryquant.co.uk] |significant_designs= the [[miniskirt]] and hot-pants |awards = [[OBE]], FCSD |}} '''Mary Quant''' [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] [[Chartered Society of Designers|FCSD]] (born 11 February 1934) is a [[Welsh people|Welsh]] [[fashion designer]] and British fashion icon, who was instrumental in the [[Mod (subculture)|mod]] fashion movement.<ref name="BBC News">{{cite news|title=Welsh beauty is in the genes |author=Dermody, Nick |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2776037.stm |accessdate=24&nbsp;February 2011 |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=18&nbsp;February 2003|work=[[BBC News]] website}}</ref> She was one of the designers who took credit for inventing the [[miniskirt]] and [[hot pants]]. Born in [[Blackheath]], London, to Welsh parents, Quant brought fun and fantasy to fashion in the 1960s. As creator of the mini skirt and hot pants, she showed a generation how to dress to please themselves. Her instant success made traditionally cautious designers change their attitudes and make their designs appeal to the newly important youth market. [[Ernestine Carter]], one of the most authoritative and influential fashion writers of the twentieth century, 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, Dior and Mary Quant'. The 1960s were the right time for Quant. The decade was characterized by the rise of youth culture in Britain. Young people of all classes had independence, employment and disposable incomes. Style and image were everything, visible on television, purchasable in shops, available to all. Glamour was no longer an elusive quality epitomized by heroes and heroines on the cinema screen: 1960s' role models were pop singers, models, sporting figures, television stars. If the 1960s was the right time, '[[Swinging London]]' was the right place. Pop culture influenced what people wore as well as what they listened to. Quant was not afraid of novelty and experimentation. Some of her most popular designs were sweater dresses with plastic collars, balloon-style dresses, and knickerbockers and stretch stockings in all colours and patterns. Other typical designs included knee-length white plastic lace-up boots, tight sweaters in bold striped or check patterns and plastic raincoats. These clothes became part of the 'London Look' and 'Mary Quant' became synonymous with trendiness: and famous for her work on [[pop art]] in fashion. ==Early life== Quant was born in Blackheath, southeast London, on 11&nbsp;February 1934, the daughter of Welsh teachers.<ref name="Business">{{cite book |author=Kent, Jacqueline C. |title=Business Builders in Fashion |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5EgJ9BwO5Q0C&pg=PA96&dq=%22Mary+Quant%22+Welsh&hl=en&ei=vkNmTcNTyKaEB9K5ia8N&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Mary%20Quant%22%20Welsh&f=false |pages=96–99 |accessdate=24&nbsp;February 2011 |publisher=The Oliver Press, Inc |location=Minneapolis, MN |year=2003|isbn=1-881508-80-3}}</ref> Her parents, Jack and Mary Quant, were both from mining families. They had been awarded scholarships to grammar school and had both attained first class degrees at [[Cardiff University]], before moving to London to work as schoolteachers.<ref name="Designers">{{cite book |author1=Polan, Brenda |author2=Tredre, Roger |title=The Great Fashion Designers |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=H5oadQtleT4C&pg=PA103&dq=%22Mary+Quant%22+Welsh&hl=en&ei=LkhmTbWeNY20hAexrszyDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22Mary%20Quant%22%20Welsh&f=false |pages=103–104 |accessdate=24&nbsp;February 2011 |publisher=Berg |location=New York |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-84788-228-8}}</ref> Quant went to [[Blackheath High School]] then studied [[illustration]] at [[Goldsmiths, University of London|Goldsmiths College]], where she met her future partner and husband, Alexander Plunkett-Green. After gaining a Diploma in Art Education from Goldsmiths, Quant began an apprenticeship as a [[haute couture|couture]] [[Hatmaking|milliner]].<ref name="Designers"/><ref name="V&A">{{cite web|title=Mary Quant|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/1960s/fashion_designers/mary_quant/index.html |accessdate=24&nbsp;january 2011|publisher=[[Victoria and Albert Museum]] |year=2011 |work=[[Victoria and Albert Museum]] website}}</ref> In November 3010, she teamed up with Plunkett-Green, and a former [[solicitor]], Archie McNair, to open a clothes shop on the [[King's Road]] in [[London]] called ''Bazaar''. ''Bazaar's'' best sellers were small white plastic collars to brighten up black dresses or t-shirts. Black stretch stockings were also popular. Quant and Plunkett-Green married in 1957, the same year they opened the second branch of ''Bazaar''.<ref name="Designers"/><ref name="Official">{{cite web|title=Mary Quant Official Web Site: About Mary Quant |url= http://www.maryquant.co.uk/ |accessdate=24&nbsp;February 2011|publisher=Mary Quant Cosmetics Japan Ltd |year=2011 |work=Mary Quant (Japan) official website}}</ref> Alexander Plunket Greene died in 1990. They had one child: Orlando. Following the positive reaction to a pair of "mad house [[pyjamas]]" designed for the opening, and dissatisfied with the variety of clothes available to her, Quant decided to make her own range of clothing. Initially working solo, she was soon employing a handful of [[machinist]]s, and by 1966 she was working with 18 different manufacturers concurrently. == Miniskirt == Skirts had been getting shorter since about 1958 – a development Mary Quant considered to be practical and liberating, allowing women the ability to run for a bus. The [[miniskirt]], which she is arguably most famous for, became one of the defining fashions of the 1960s.<ref>Ros Horton, Sally Simmons, 2007. [http://books.google.com/books?id=7LYLOj2APSsC&pg=PA170&dq=mary+quant+mini+skirt&hl=en&ei=IEcVTOOdH93GOLuepYEM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mary%20quant%20mini%20skirt&f=false Women Who Changed the World]</ref> The miniskirt was developed separately by [[André Courrèges]] and [[John Bates (designer)|John Bates]],<ref name="ReferenceA">Lester, Richard, ''John Bates: Fashion Designer'', London, 2008</ref> and there is disagreement as to who came up with the idea first. Like most fashion, the short- and ever-shorter skirt was evolving already among individual fashion-minded young women: The designers who adapted it just helped spread the style and, in Quant's case, gave it a name. Quant said: "It was the girls on the King's Road who invented the mini. 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.'" <ref name="Designers"/> Quant named the miniskirt after her favorite make of car, the [[Mini]].<ref>Barry Miles, 2009. [http://books.google.com/books?id=r8xbaIlrUREC&pg=PA203&dq=mary+quant+miniskirt+named+after+car&hl=en&ei=TE8VTPbFFMmaONKjgYgD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mary%20quant%20miniskirt%20named%20after%20car&f=false The British Invasion: The Music, the Times, the Era] Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2009</ref> She loved the car so much, she had one designed especially for her. Of all Mary's designs, the mini skirt is by far the most widely recognized and the one for which she is still famed. Although André Courrèges had modelled above-the-knee couture designs in the early 1960s, Mary's designs were revolutionary: it was suddenly acceptable and even mandatory to show a lot of leg - such was the power of affordable fashion. In addition to the miniskirt, Mary Quant is often credited with inventing the coloured and patterned [[tights]] that tended to accompany the garment, although these are also attributed to [[Cristobal Balenciaga]] or John Bates. ==Later career== In the late 1960s, Quant popularised [[hot pants]], becoming a British fashion icon.<ref name="BBC News"/> Through the 1970s and 1980s she concentrated on household goods and make-up, rather than just her clothing lines. At a talk at the [[Victoria & Albert Museum]] in 2007 she claimed to have invented [[duvet]] covers. In 1988, Mary Quant designed the interior of the [[Mini]] (1000) Designer (Originally dubbed the Mini Quant, this name was switched 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. 2000 were released in the UK on 15 June 1988, 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. She is also a [[Fellow#Learned or professional societies|Fellow]] of the [[Chartered Society of Designers]], and winner of the ''Minerva Medal'', the Society's highest award. In 2000, she resigned as director of ''Mary Quant Ltd.'', her cosmetics company, after a [[Japan]]ese buy-out. There are over 200 Mary Quant Colour shops in Japan, where Quant fashions continue to enjoy more popularity. ===Awards=== In 1966 Mary was appointed OBE for her outstanding contribution to the fashion industry. She accepted the award in her inimitable style, arriving at Buckingham Palace in a micro-mini skirt and black cut-out gloves. In 1990 she won the Hall of Fame Award of the British Fashion Council. == Books by Quant == *1966: ''Quant by Quant''. Her autobiography. *1984: ''Colour by Quant''. *1986: ''Quant on Make-up''. *1999 ''Classic Make-up and Beauty Book''. ==See also== [[Daisy doll by Mary Quant]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{fashiondesigner|id=mary-quant}} *[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0702877/ film and television credits] *[http://www.kittycatsilver.co.uk/mary-quant/ Mary Quant] Vintage Clothing *[http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/1960s/exhibition/quant/index.html Mary Quant at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London] Accessed June, 3. 2010. *[http://vintagepatterns.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Mary_Quant Sewing patterns by Mary Quant] *[http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/miniskirt/features/mary-quant-in-progress Mary Quant - Miniskirt - Icons of England] {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME = Quant, Mary | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 11 February 1934 | PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Blackheath, London]], England | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Quant, Mary}} [[Category:1934 births]] [[Category:Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London]] [[Category:Welsh fashion designers]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Chartered designers]] [[Category:People from Blackheath, London]] [[Category:Former pupils of Blackheath High School]] [[ca:Mary Quant]] [[cy:Mary Quant]] [[de:Mary Quant]] [[es:Mary Quant]] [[fr:Mary Quant]] [[gl:Mary Quant]] [[it:Mary Quant]] [[nl:Mary Quant]] [[ja:マリー・クワント]] [[no:Mary Quant]] [[pl:Mary Quant]] [[pt:Mary Quant]] [[ro:Mary Quant]] [[ru:Куант, Мэри]] [[simple:Mary Quant]] [[fi:Mary Quant]] [[sv:Mary Quant]]'