Label lover

Mary was born February 11th 1934 in Kent to Welsh parents. Anyone who has read Quant by Quant will probably agree she had a happy childhood which all seemed very “jolly hockey-sticks”. She went on to study at Goldsmith’s College before taking a job with a couture milliner.

In October 1955 Mary and her husband, Alexander Plunkett-Greene, teamed up with their accountant friend Archie McNair, and opened their clothes shop on the Kings Road, London called Bazaar. It was known for its surreal window displays and eclectic mix of clothes, accessories and costume jewellery. The clothes were decidedly modern. “I want relaxed clothes suited to the actions of normal life” said Mary.

Following the positive reaction to a pair of "mad house pajamas" designed for the opening, and dissatisfied with the variety of clothes available to her, Mary decided to make her own range of clothing. Initially working solo, she was soon employing a handful of machinists.

By 1961 Mary had opened a second Bazaar in Knightsbridge.

To keep up with demand, Mary went into mass production, setting up the Ginger Group in 1963.

By 1965 she was exporting to the United States where the chain J.C.Penney launched a line designed by Mary. She was also marketed by Puritan Manufacturing as part of their “Youthquake” promotion – Mary’s designs being sold an a New York boutique started by Puritan named “Paraphernalia”.

By 1966 Mary was working with 18 different manufacturers concurrently no wonder then that in the same year she was awarded an O.B.E. for services to the fashion industry.

Mary’s popularity was at its peak in the mid 1960s, during which time she produced the dangerously short micro-mini skirt*, "paint-box" [make-up], and plastic raincoats. She was described as being the leading fashion force outside Paris. In 1970 Bernard Levin called her the "High Priestess of Sixties fashion".

*Skirts had been getting shorter since about 1958 – a development Mary considered to be practical and liberating, allowing women the ability to run for a bus. The miniskirt, for which she is arguably most famous, became one of the defining fashions of the 1960’s. There is some dispute as to whether Mary actually came up with the idea of the miniskirt before Andre Courrèges. But what is certain is that Mary named the miniskirt after her (and mine!) favourite car, the Mini.

In addition to the miniskirt, Mary is often credited with inventing the bright coloured and patterned tights which were worn with the miniskirt, although this invention is sometimes attributed to Cristobal Balenciaga.

Regardless of whether she did invent these items first, it’s Mary whose name is synonymous with them - largely thanks to the popularity of Bazaar among the "Chelsea Set" of "Swinging London”. The "Chelsea Set" was a group of young artists, film directors and socialites who gravitated towards the King's Road. The name Chelsea became synonymous with a new way of living and dressing.

In the late 1960s, Mary launched hot pants, which was her last big fashion development.

Through the 1970’s she concentrated on household goods and make-up.

In 1988 Mary designed the interior of the Mini 1000 Designer (Originally dubbed the Mini Quant). A few of you may know that I was once the very proud owner of such a vehicle and it really was fab! It featured black and white striped seats with red trimming. The seatbelts were red, and the driving and passenger seats had Mary’s signature on the upper left quadrant. The steering wheel had the Mary Quant signature daisy and the bonnet badge had "Mary Quant" written over the signature name. The headlight housings, wheel arches, door handles and bumpers were all nimbus grey, rather than the more common chrome or black finishes. 2000 were released in the UK on 15th June of 1988, a number were also released onto foreign markets. The special edition mini came in two body colours, jet black and diamond white (I had the white one).

In 2000 Mary resigned as director of Mary Quant Ltd, her cosmetics company, after a Japanese buy-out. There’s now over 200 Mary Quant Colour shops in Japan.