Mary Quant retrospective at the V&A Museum opens on April 6th to the public.
This exhibition covers 20 years of the 60’s pop fashion hero’s career from the very first boutique Bazaar in the Kings Rd which was opened in 1955 and whose outfits whilst groundbreaking at the time seem rather drab now by comparison to the later designs from 1960 onwards as the Youth-quake hit and hemlines were rising.
One of the key features is how many outfits have been donated by ordinary women who wore them at the time and have held onto the loved outfits, a call out last year has resulted in more than 1,000 responses and labelled items have descriptive quotes from their owners describing where they wore them,
By 1975 the Quant business had expanded to a global concern with much success in America and the original store had been long closed in favour of licensed operations.
This was the original high st label, with mass manufactured young fashion spread through the UK in a way that had never been done before, Mary Quant envisioned a lifestyle brand that was way ahead of her time with make up, lingerie, accessories and even a doll with mini me look alike outfits.
Quant inspirations included masculine tailoring and Victorian dresses, two directions still in force for womenswear today. Easy to wear and yet still sexy were other demands of the label.
Although the clothing looks a little drab and even in some cases homemade by todays standards the breadth of what she achieved is amazing for that time and paved the way for other pioneers in lifestyle fashion.
Mary Quant runs at the V&A Museum April 6th – 16th Feb 2020 and is sponsored by King’s Rd and GRoW@Annenberg.
1950’s Mary Quant designs from her first store Bazaar in the Kings Rd