Quant by Quant
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
If there is one thing that I could say sparked my love of fashion, it would be my discovery of Mary Quant. And what better way to share what I love most than by starting where it all truly began. On her journey to become a fashion designer and fashion influencer in its truest sense, Quant followed a life long passion that is evident in each of her fashion collections. I hope you learn to love and appreciate them like I do.
And if you learn anything by the end of the post, you will know that the 60s was by far the coolest decade.
Who Was Mary Quant?
Before Barbara Mary Quant became a world renowned 60s fashion designer and icon, she grew up in Blackheath, London with two Welsh mining parents. The family eventually moved to central London, where Quant attended Goldsmith College. Her dream had always been to study fashion at the university, but after her parents disapproved of this choice, she studied and attained a degree in illustration and art education in 1953. While studying there, she met her husband, Alexander Plunket Greene, who continued to help her pursue her dream of fashion.
After graduating, she had an internship with Erik of Brook Street, a very high-end and popular milliner (or fancy hat maker) of the time. Her husband bought a place called Markham House on King's Road in Chelsea, London - also referred to as the "Chelsea Set" area because of all the young and inspired artists, film makers, and other creatives who lived in the area . A friend of the couple, photographer Archie McNair, helped Quant open her boutique called Bazaar, which was located on the main floor with a restaurant in the basement. This trio was stacked and unbeatable - Quant did design and inventory, Plunket Green did marketing, and McNair handled the legal and business side of things. Quite the stacked cast for success.
Bazaar Boutique
Quant's boutique started with items she could source from wholesale markets, but she grew bored and frustrated with the limited options. She later said that the inspiration for her first design was a brightly colored lounge pajama set. With the popularity of her crazy colored pieces with the public and fashion magazines, she decided to start stocking Bazaar with her own specially made designs.
What is most inspiring about her story is that, while she had no fashion education, it didn't matter. She became a self-taught designer and attended classes on cutting, sewing, and mass market printing so that she could hone her craft. In the early days of her boutique, she operated on a "just in time" delivery model out of necessity! The sales from the day before paid for the fabric to make the clothes for the next day, and cloth was made overnight and put into the new stock and store for the following day. Yes, this process sounds atrocious and tiring, but it worked. The concept of having new inventory each day meant that customers were always hungry for more. And thankfully for her and her team, it did not last forever.
In the late 50s-60s, Bazaar was one of the few boutiques that offered statement clothes that were an alternative to the "mature" styles that were still being produced by more well known fashion designers. Bazaar was also known to have a far different shopping experience than a regular department store could ever provide with loud music, free drinks, extended hours, and radical and bold window displays. Bazaar eventually became a place to go, be seen, and enjoy.
The Method Behind the Madness
Quant's inspiration was heavily influenced by artists, dancers, musicians, and the street chic of the "Chelsea Set." (And let me add an honorable mention for the "Mods" or "Modernists,” a very popular subculture for Londons' youth that defined much of the late 50s fashion in this artsy part of town. Stay tuned for a future post!)
The items in the first ever collection from Quant were "modern in their simplicity" (V&A). Quant wanted to start her collection with "relaxed clothes [that] suited to the actions of normal life" (Quant). Where she was able to thrive and gain so much popularity was having a simple, short dress paired, for example, with her famous and unusually colorful tights (i.e grape, tomato, ginger, etc) that stood out from typical everyday wear without being too loud. She was inspired to create this bold, high-fashion version of easy and simple outfits by what she had worn for play and dance classes as a kid. You really can pull inspiration from everywhere :)
The Miniskirt
While the origin of the miniskirt is debated, Quant is definitely the fashion designer of the time to make it so relevant and popular that (I think) it was hers all along. The high hemline became part of her signature look and trademark for skirts, dresses, and shift dresses. Miniskirts were also largely popular after my icon and role model, Twiggy, a famous model at the time, whose long legs helped make the short hem an international trend. The shorter hemlines paired perfectly with a funky colored nylon tight by Mary Quant. Her tights and underwear were also the first time her name was used under license for her products.
Quant also created the "skinny rib" sweater by trying on a child's sweater for fun, and invented hot pants, which were actually just extremely short shorts. The 60s was also a time for fashion designers to play with new materials and so Quant took this in stride, using newly created synthetic fabrics and updated colors of staples, like jersey and wool jersey. She even created weatherproof shoes and boots with PVC for her Quant Afoot line.
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(I also want to use this section to say that I have actually seen and held an original pair of Mary Quant tights while thrifting in London. This spot, which I am 1000% going to gatekeep, sells true vintage pieces that will just blow your mind. I had asked the woman behind the register if she owned anything by Mary Quant and she pulled out the tights. Unfortunately, they were not a funky color as I had hoped, but a "toasted marshmallow" nude color. To this day, I hate myself for choosing smart shopping. In reality, I didn't know when I would realistically need to wear nude tights, but just the idea of owning a pair of the ORIGINAL TIGHTS - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I'm so stupid haha. Anyways, this just goes to show that if you love something enough to seek it out, just get it.)
Ok. Back to the story.
Her Effect
At this point, Quant had made herself very well known and cemented her spot in the rising boutique and fashion field. In the early 1960s, she signed a short contract with JC Penny, and the following year, "'Mary Quant Limited'" expanded into the UK mass market with a new, cheaper diffusion line, “Ginger Group.'" She even had some sewing patterns of her own created so that people could make her clothes at home. In addition to her clothing lines, she added household goods and, in 1966, makeup to her portfolio.
The iconic Daisy logo is what really set Quant apart from other brands of the time. Not only was it one of the first designer logos, but it also stood for a new and rising era: times were changing.
There is something revolutionary about Quant and all her loyal followers that I find so fascinating. Quant knew that her people kept coming back and realized that they were her walking billboards. She pasted Bazaar in huge letters on her shopping bags to attract attention from other shoppers, and this was revolutionary at the time! She was awarded "... The Sunday Times International Award for 'jolting England out of a conventional attitude towards clothes'" (V&A). She published her own autobiography in 1966, titled "Quant by Quant," and Mary Quant: Autobiography in 2012. After her third shop opened in the UK, it was said that about seven million women had at least one of her pieces in their closet while the rest were probably wearing her "Daisy" cosmetic line. How COOL is that. Her love for fashion and design hit the right audiences at the right time. She was able to spread her love for clothes into each product she made and it's evident that everyone was eating it up.
Her Makeup
Her makeup was actually revolutionary, even after clothes. Not only was it decked out with the Daisy logo, but the wide selection of funky colors was endless, from eye shadows and lipsticks, to eyeliners and even nail polish.
Quant, always noticing the little things, came to realize that while her fashion had started to shift the fashion world, the "face was left behind" (Quant). Quant tested out all the ways to make applying makeup easier and more efficient for the wearer, i.e. finding the cutest compact container with the most amount of options for optimal bag space. Quant brought fun and color to life through her creations, much of which took inspiration from kids Crayons. This was truly pivotal for the times since most everything began lacking all color and never had any daring choices. Quant brought the edgy side to her fashion and products, even having her models sport a panda eye full of bold eye liner that really must have shocked the system if you were seeing that for the first time.
The 70s
Even going into the 70s, Quant was still relevant and very popular. She had a museum exhibit at Kensington Palace in 1973-1974, and still continued to produce something new and exciting. She delved more even more into the cosmetic world, more high quality products, and even worked with popular interior designers to get some of her famous patterns on carpets, curtains, paint, and more. Eventually jewelry and swimwear came into the picture and were, of course, swept away by the public. Another daring step for Quant was creating skincare for men and writing more books sharing her two cents on the cosmetics world. I also find it interesting that she made a "Daisy fashion doll" collection, consisting of "barbie dolls" in small versions of her most popular clothes. (I found in my research on Ebay that you can still find the original dolls for sale, but it is proving difficult to find her most popular clothing products that are not for the dolls).
Through all these years, Quant still has a major impact on the fashion world. By creating that major turn in London street fashion, we are able to wear the clothes we are now. Without her daring choices, it might have taken even longer for us to reach this fashion point, and to have experimented with all kinds of shapes and fabrics like she did. I cannot express enough how much I love everything that she did and has done for the fashion world today.
Twiggy
The 60s was all about experimenting and with that came modeling. Twiggy, world famous British model during the time, represented the most iconic times of the 60s. Her notable mod look defined the quintessential parts o the 20th century. While she gained this nickname from a hairdresser for her thin frame who later cut her hair to her iconic boyish bob, she gained mass popularity in such a short amount of time. Twiggy was often posing for Quant's designs and became kind of like the face of her designs. With the daring designs and Twiggy's unconventional look, the two made a beautiful team that helped push the brand to be one of the most popular and influential of its time.
Twiggy also wanted to take her fame to try some other arts, including music. If you were to listen to them today, you would hear the echo of the 60s in every sound. I've made a 60s inspired Spotify playlist while I wrote this to keep the creative juices flowing. Go check out her song on there too!
I first discovered Mary Quant at an exhibit at the V&A Museum in 2019, and I still see her inspiration in the clothes we wear today. Her re-interpretation of London street fashion created new styles which have now become classics.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Mary Quant designs continued to be famous until she sold her company in 2000 to a Japanese company. Japan still has a couple of "Mary Quant Color" shops, but they are a farcry from the originals.
Quant passed away in April 2023 at the age of 93.
Well. I tried to keep this one shorter for my readers that don't love the look of scary paragraphs, but I got too carried away! I hope you stayed interested the whoooooooole way & learned something new!
Til next time!
Sophie ✿
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