Mary Quant was one of the best-known designers of the Swinging Sixties, a creative and commercial trailblazer who put London fashion on the world map.
Synonymous with defining styles of the era, including the miniskirt and hot pants, her colorful and unashamedly sexy clothes for a drastically changing world were adored as much by celebrities like Twiggy and Audrey Hepburn as they were by young girls on the street with new feelings of freedom. Emerging at the time of feminism’s second wave (after suffrage), Ms. Quant, who died on Thursday at 93, helped wipe out British postwar drabness and create a bold new way of dressing.
Bazaar, the King’s Road store she opened in 1955 with her husband, Alexander Plunket Greene, was an instant hit, turning the street into a fashion mecca for affluent young shoppers. Later, she became an early adopter of mass production for her designs like colorful opaque tights and PVC plastic raincoats, and global licenses for products including bed linen and carpets.
Beyond her clothes, Ms. Quant became a recognizable figure in her own right, frequently photographed with her signature Vidal Sassoon five-point bob and almost always wearing a mini, including when she received her Order of the British Empire in 1966 at Buckingham Palace.
Ms. Quant was not just an early high-profile female fashion designer; she was also a powerful role model for working women.
Mary Quant, pictured here in a minidress with Peter Pan collar, was a vanguard of the 1960s shift in fashion.Keystone/Getty Images
Her designs ranged from short flared skirts and pinafores to knee socks, tights and, most famously, miniskirts.PA Images, via Getty Images
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Ms. Quant, with her signature bob and miniskirt, at a news conference in Rome.Getty Images
Ms. Quant’s boutique, Bazaar, made King’s Road a magnet for the beautiful and fashionable in London.Keystone/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images
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Ms. Quant with a group of models at Heathrow Airport before leaving for a continental fashion tour.Express/Getty Images
Ms. Quant was known for her signature bob, created by the hairdresser Vidal Sassoon.Ronald Dumont/Daily Express, via Getty Images
By the 1970s, Ms. Quant had expanded her brand into household goods and cosmetics.Evening Standard/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images
Ms. Quant started a lower-priced ready-to-wear range, called Ginger Group, in 1963.Mike McKeown/Express, via Getty Images
Mary Quant, sitting with her husband, Alexander Plunket Greene; the hairdresser Vidal Sassoon; the photographer Terence Donovan; and others, at a cocktail party.Ronald Dumont/Express, via Getty Images
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A self-taught designer, Ms. Quant catered to a set of young customers who were “tired of wearing the same as their mothers.”Evening Standard/Hulton Archive, via Getty Images
Ms. Quant has been the subject of numerous museum shows thanks to her sleek, streamlined and vibrant designs.Rrune hellestad/Corbis, via Getty Images
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Mary Quant at Heathrow Airport in 1966.Mirrorpix/Getty Images
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