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Dame Mary Quant, the trailblazing fashion designer who helped define London youth culture in the late 1950s and 1960s, has died aged 93, PA Media reported on Thursday.
She died peacefully at her home in Surrey, her family said in a statement.
She “was one of the most internationally recognised fashion designers of the 20th century and an outstanding innovator of the Swinging Sixties,” the statement said.
With her fashion boutique, Bazaar, which opened on the Kings Road in 1955, Quant helped pioneer a new era of women’s fashion in Britain. Her early designs were notable for their modern embrace of simplicity, comfort and wearability — as well as their affordable price point compared with fashionable designer labels. Bazaar, meanwhile, became a popular hangout spot for trendy young women, who came with friends to enjoy music and drinks as well as shop.
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Influenced by the Beatnik Chelsea Set and “Mods” subculture, Quant’s trademark PVC tunics, shift dresses, hot pants and miniskirts paired with colourful tights appealed to a new generation of working young women, eager to spend their disposable income on wears that reflected the new mood of the Swinging Sixties.
Demand for Quant’s designs soared, prompting her to open a second Bazaar store on the King’s Road in 1957. A third location opened on Bond Street in 1966, the same year Quant was awarded an OBE. In 2014, Quant was made a dame to honour her services to British fashion.
”It’s impossible to overstate Quant’s contribution to fashion,” the V&A museum said in a statement. “She represented the joyful freedom of 1960s fashion, and provided a new role model for young women.”
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