History of the rise of the miniskirt and its originator Mary Quant

The controversy over the attribution of the garment’s invention and a career on the edge of the system: the miniskirt and its inventor

From Bond Street to Carnaby street: two sides of the fashion London

Among the cities where fashion is born and evolves today is London, which presents a fervent and experimental environment compared to other destinations. The revolutionary spirit of the British fashion system has always been complemented by classic men’s tailoring.

Bond Street and business men are the focus of the latter, but the youthful transgressiveness of the fashion system is to be found between Carnaby Street and Kensington. Simona Segre Reinach in Fashion, An Introduction identifies two key points in the eccentric evolution of British fashion: Mary Quant in the setting of the Swinging London and the Biba boutique.

Between 1960 and 1967, defined as the Swinging Sixties, fashion and culture focused on the definition of young people and teenagers, vaguely questioned in previous historical eras. From female icons such as Twiggy during the Sixties to the music of the Beatles, from youth myths to transgression: the London revolution passes through Quant’s invention of the miniskirt.

Mary Quant toward the start of her career

Born on the eleventh of February 1930, in Blackheath, Mary Quant lived in an educated family environment with two parents who were university professors at London University. While not pursuing the same career, Quant was clear about what she was passionate about and continued her studies with an illustration focus at Goldsmiths College.

She had no training in design, but her ability to experiment and an apprenticeship with an upscale Mayfair milliner steered her toward the world of fashion. After moving to London and meeting her husband Alexander Plunket Greene, a descendant of an aristocratic family, the two opened the Bazaar boutique together, which was to become the nerve center of the revolution implemented by Quant.

Mary Quant: at the edge of the fashion system

«No one has ever been able to define the Chelsea Set exactly, but I think it grew out of something that was in the air and then grew into a serious attempt to break with the establishment», this is how the designer tells it in Quant by Quant, her autobiography.

Describing the Chelsea revolution in a concrete aside, Quant sums up the environment in which her innovations were born and evolved. In 1955 Mary Quant opened her boutique called Bazaar in London and this place became the center of ideation and sales in the city. Beyond the concept of seasonal collection, the designer produced linear and practical pieces with a mix of styles and the independence from the idea of social class divisions.

Although the designer is mainly remembered for her invention of the miniskirt, the style she also promoted through her own persona became iconic of the era. The introduction of innovative materials such as PVC or special elements such as colored stockings along with her Vidal Sassoon haircut are just some of the traits that defined the Sixties style. The recognition from the society arrived with the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1966 for Quant service to fashion, a dedicated stamp in 2009 and a series of tributes to her work. 

A new style for a new cultural system, starting from the miniskirt

The shortening of the skirt hem, first in 1961 and then in 1966 with the definition of mini represented an important step with respect to the emancipation of the female figure. For too long constrained in structured and complex fashion artifacts, women uncovered their legs and freed themselves, even in their underwear from these structures.

The obsession with these minimal and essential forms confronts the women’s bodies: more similar to those with few pre-pubescent forms of schoolgirls. The garment that intercepted the need for cultural change, before the request for clothing, became a symbol of the feminist movement and youth uprisings of the Sixties and Seventies.

The item highlighted the need for a comfortable and practical garment for women that could also be used for work. Simplicity and freedom of dress were the guidelines that led to the creation of the garment, along with the short usage of fabrics and costs implied for the manufacturing.

Together with the change in hem length, the colors of the miniskirt also became bright. From the more geometric and squared-off shapes of the early years, the mini and dresses evolved over time even through the hands of other designers. It was this evolution and contamination of ideas in the fashion world that called into question the attribution of Quant’s conception of the miniskirt. 

Controversy on the attribution of the miniskirt invention – Mary Quant

Vying for the title of inventor of the miniskirt with Mary Quant was André Courrèges, another innovator in the forms and designs of the time. In addition to him, costume designer John Bates, Rudi Gernreich, who had shortened hemlines in the United States, and Helen Rose, who was in charge of stage clothes and had already proposed very short skirts in 1956, are also mentioned. Although Quant’s conception of this garment has often been questioned, she was able to respond to such accusations.

In fact, she claimed that it was not any designer who made this garment famous, but the girls who wore it and went to buy it in her store. Quant effect was defined by some as the designer’s ability to make iconic even garments not of her own invention such as tights, raincoats, onesies, and more. The real plus was the branding ability of Quant, who through her person, her brand, and her boutique became a true influencer of the time.

Among the innovations was the continuous stocking of products from one day to the next: what was earned the previous day was used to produce for the subsequent. And then again the invention of the recognizable logo associated with the packaging of each item: a black-and-white daisy. The real strength of her ability to influence was making her own Bazaar boutique a true hub for her devoted fashion community. 

Away from the mother’s dress: Quant’s miniskirt

To be invented, before the miniskirt, was the socially recognized category of youth. The decades following World War II and still in the midst of the Cold War served to define not only the role but also the youth class. This was characterized by a detachment from what were the customs and habits of the parents’ generation.

Rebellion was the means of asserting one’s existence, and it passed not only through youthful movements but also through culture, language, and style. Boys wore their hair long while girls cut it into short bobs, and this was just one of the visual symbols that aimed at category recognition. Regarding clothes, the designer points out in her book Quant by Quant, «the young were essentially tired of wearing the same as their mothers».

However, this garment that became iconic and continues to be a symbol and tool of contemporary fashion houses was not immune to criticism. While it became a symbol of feminism, it was also criticized as a tool for objectifying women. The Victoria and Albert Museum of London, with its recent exhibition on Quant, stated following her passing: «It’s impossible to overstate Quant’s contribution to fashion. She represented the joyful freedom of 1960s fashion, and provided a new role model for young women».

Mary Quant and the historical evolution of miniskirt

Periods when the miniskirt was a must and a trend were followed by periods and seasons when it disappeared from the catwalks and especially from customer demand. It was often noted that there was a certain coincidence between increased demand for skirts with shorter hemlines in more prosperous periods. This trend that saw in times of crisis, in particular economic, the demand for longer, morose skirts was called the Hemline Index theory by George Taylor.

In history, for example, after the rapid success gained in the 1960s there was a decline in popularity due to some feminist currents that instead demonized the garment. Then again in the 1980s it returned in the guise of the rah-rah skirt with its connection to the world of cheerleading. In the 1990s, on the other hand, various fashion houses reinterpreted it according to their own style from the refined style of Lagerfeld to the transgressive style of Versace.

Bringing the theory back to the present, the pandemic period and the subsequent lockdown saw the spread usage of an essential, comfortable costume with soft but defined lines. The post-pandemic phase, on the other hand, is characterized by a return to excess, glitz, and exaggeration. In this climate the miniskirt also comes back, and of all of them is to be mentioned Miu Miu’s reinterpretation that appeared in most fashion magazines and covers becoming a contemporary trend.

Mary Quant

Dame Barbara Mary Quant was a British fashion designer, inventor and entrepreneur, known worldwide as the inventor of the miniskirt.

Chiara Narciso