{"id":231334,"date":"2023-04-13T13:27:54","date_gmt":"2023-04-13T12:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/?p=231334"},"modified":"2023-04-13T17:36:18","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T16:36:18","slug":"dame-mary-quant-british-fashion-design-legend-dies-at-the-age-of-93","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/dame-mary-quant-british-fashion-design-legend-dies-at-the-age-of-93\/","title":{"rendered":"Dame Mary Quant, British fashion design legend, dies at the age of 93"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dame Mary Quant, the legendary British fashion designer attributed with the introduction of the mini skirt, has died at the age of 93.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n A statement released by her family today said:\u00a0\"Dame Mary Quant died peacefully at home in Surrey, UK, this morning.<\/p>\n \"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.<\/p>\n \"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.\"<\/p>\n Her passing comes shortly after Dame Mary was awarded one of the highest honours in the\u00a0King's first New Year's Honours List when she received the Companion of Honour award.<\/p>\n The\u00a0special award is granted to those who have made \"a major contribution\u00a0to the arts, science, medicine, or government lasting over a long period of time\". The members, of\u00a0which there are 65 at any one time, currently include actress Dame Maggie Smith, legendary athlete Lord Coe, broadcaster Sir David Attenborough and former Prime Minister Sir John Major.<\/p>\n Beginning her career in demi-couture, Dame Mary quickly moved into ready-to-wear, creating clothes that played with gender stereotypes, allowing women to move freely. Popularised by Jean Shrimpton, Pattie Boyd, Cilla Black and Twiggy, Quant\u2019s distinctive personal style, dubbed \"Chelsea Girl', found a ready market among young women in London.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dame Mary introduced the mini skirt (though who invented the design is disputed), hot pants and other styles that remain influential to this day, including coloured tights, Peter Pan collars and tailored trouser suits. The designs were widely popular globally and are credited with having inspired the launch of the high street fashion industry in the UK along with a new wave of feminism.<\/p>\n In 1962, Quant took on her first international collaboration with American department-store chain JC Penney, and in 1963 the company, Mary Quant Limited, expanded into the UK mass market with the diffusion line, Ginger Group. In 1966 Quant extended her business further to include cosmetics, and went on to add interiors, hosiery and jewellery, among other products, which she exported around the world.<\/p>\n She once said of her designs: \"It was the girls on the King's Road who 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.'\"<\/p>\n