British fashion designer Mary Quant is dead. The "mother of the miniskirt" died at the age of 93.
Her most famous creation became a symbol of freedom.
There is now much talk of freedom in the obituaries of British fashion designer Dame Mary Quant, who died on April 13, 2023 at the age of 93.
Of course, this specifically means the (leg) freedom of women.
The miniskirt, which Quant didn't invent but brought to the catwalks and streets of the western world, gave them more freedom of movement.
In the 1960s, of course, the item of clothing was also a symbol of social change, of emancipation, the awakening and breakout of an entire generation.
Mary Quant was born in London in 1930
Mary Quant represents all of that. "The big changes happened back then," she once said in a TV documentary.
"Fashion and many other things have benefited from it." Perhaps it is particularly important today to remember this shortest revolution in the world - now that in some places in culture and society there is a step backwards, a turning away from freedom and tolerance back to narrow-mindedness and a culture of prohibition can be observed.
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Museum-ready: Creations by Mary Quant in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
© Adrian Dennis/AFP
Quant's work celebrates self-determined living.
Born in London in 1930 as a teacher's child, legend has it that she took up needle and scissors at an early age.
"I would cut up bedspreads," she recalled speaking to The Week magazine.
"I changed my school uniform, pulled up my skirt to make it look more exciting." She studied art education at Goldsmiths College - and as a 21-year-old opened her boutique "Bazaar" on London's King's Road with friends.
Since it was not possible to get what she wanted to offer, Quant simply began to sew herself: she modified patterns for housewives and tailored them with exciting fabrics.
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Mary Quant's fashion ensures freedom of movement.
© Pierre Verdy/AFP
The mini skirt, photographed by British "Vogue" in 1962, was a turning point - in her career, in society.
He drew maximum attention and maximum trouble.
In the USA (where else?) it was even banned at times.
The garment was not an invention of the British.
In the early 1930s there was a German production of "Zarevich" in which a short skirt was worn on stage.
On television in the 1950s, actresses in science fiction series were often outfitted in miniskirts.
freedom for women?
The makers could only imagine that in a future far, far away.
It was Mary Quant's merit to make the clothes, which until then had been understood as costumes, popular in everyday life.
Unmistakable, simple - and with a clear message.
She mixed style elements of the fifties - stockings, flat shoes, turtleneck - colorful and short.
"I made light, youthful, simple clothes," Quant is quoted as saying in The Great Fashion Designers.
"I wore them very short and the customers said: shorter, shorter!"
Mary Quant named the mini skirt after the Mini Cooper, her favorite car
The Brit named her best-known creation, which also spread quickly because young people threatened to run out of air to breathe, after the Mini Cooper, her favorite car.
"He did everything you asked, looked great, was upbeat and unruly, young, flirtatious, just right." All of these are important qualities.
Not only for women.