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using the caran d’ache watercolor pencils she loved
so much. Finally, Quant’s steely determination
enabled her to forge a trailblazing career.
We’re talking about a different time, but I was
surprised to read about her relationship with
Butterick patterns. I think that also speaks to a
sort of democratic approach to fashion.
Mary Quant’s approach to fashion was egalitarian
and is reflected in her move into mass-production
in 1963 with the Ginger Group line, which made
her designs much more affordable for working
women. The whole point of fashion is to make
fashionable clothes available to everyone. Her
range of Butterick homes dressmaking patterns
brought some of her most iconic designs within
reach of all Quant fans for the cost of purchasing
a Vogue magazine, and her hugely successful
cosmetics line, introduced in 1966, established her
as the godmother of accessible designer fashion
for all.
Did she actually start in retail before design? Did
her store Bazaar pre-date Mary Quant designs?
After leaving Goldsmith’s, Quant’s first job was
trimming hats at Erik’s, a couture milliner in
Mayfair. By 1955, she opened her experimental
first boutique, Bazaar, on King’s Road in London.
Initially, her role was to comb wholesale
warehouses and art schools to source quirky
garments and jewelry for the shop. However, she
swiftly grew tired of that limited range of garments
available, and so began to design herself in 1956,
studying at night school. Once she began designing,
her garments were so popular that the stock would
sell out swiftly, and so the early days of Bazaar were
defined as a hand-to-mouth operation, with Quant
making dresses in her bedsit in the evening to
replenish stock for the next day.
Is it a stretch to say that she was one of the
first to transform shopping from a purchase
transaction to an actual experience, and maybe
one of the first to introduce fast retail?
Bazaar was a forerunner of the explosion of
boutique shops, which happened in the late
1950s and ’60s in London. Through Bazaar,
Quant transformed the retail experience
at a time when shopping was a relatively
formal experience. Through music, drinks,
and continually changing stock, she created
an almost cultural hub, more akin to a club
than a shop, which the Chelsea set flocked to.
In 1958, Quant took on the fashion giants of
Knightsbridge, brazenly opening her second
Bazaar shop opposite Harrods itself.
Although Quant was a great advocate of affordable
fashion for all, her garments would certainly not
be considered fast fashion. The quantities being
produced were incredibly small compared to
fashion today. Quant’s ethos was to offer women
choice and a range of well considered garments
with mix-and-match potential, not continually
produce new designs in response to fashion trends.Specifically, she made mannequins into visual
art, and her models more like actors than just
coat racks, right?
Mary Quant pioneered a new approach to
window display that we take for granted in retailTop: Mary Quant and models at the Quant Afoot footwear collection launch, 1967 © PA Prints 2008 Bottom left: Design for a cowl neck minidress with mustard yellow
tights by Mary Quant, about 1967, London. Museum no. E.525-1975. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London Bottom right: Kellie Wilson wearing tie dress by Mary Quant’s
Ginger Group. Photograph by Gunnar Larsen, 1966. © Gunnar Larsen