The British designer credited with popularizing the miniskirt is dead at 93.
Mary Quant, who some credit for inventing the style staple, died “peacefully” in her south England home Thursday morning, her family said.
While it might be a stretch to say the fashion trailblazer invented short skirts, her creative uses of the mini — which she skillfully paired with other items coming into fashion as the 1960s got wild — was recognized worldwide. Miniskirts were featured prominently in Quant’s popular London shop Bazaar, which opened on Chelsea’s King’s Road in 1955.
“She was the right person with the right sensibility in the right place at the right time,” American Vogue magazine editor-at-large Hamish Bowles told the Associated Press.
Style Caster wrote in a 2022 deep dive into the history of the miniskirt that cave drawings showed people wearing garments cut-off well above the knee. But the fashion site credits Quant for introducing the look to the mainstream.
If anyone should be credited with pioneering the miniskirt, it is British designer Mary Quant,” Style Caster concluded.
The fashion world mourned her passing.
“Very sad news today to learn of the passing of the ‘60s daringly creative, fun genius, much-loved lady, Dame Mary Quant,” tweeted model Pattie Boyd, who thanked Quant for making the coat she wore on the day she married Beatles guitarist George Harrison in January 1966.
Former long-time British Vogue editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman called Quant “a leader of fashion but also in female entrepreneurship — a visionary who was much more than a great haircut.”
New York Times fashion critic remembered Quant as the designer who “freed the female leg.”
However, not everyone was a fan of miniskirts. Designer Coco Chanel referred to them as “just awful” when they became all the rage in the 1960s. Karl Lagerfeld, who became Chanel’s artistic director in 1982, said his predecessor’s take on Quant’s signature item was a huge misstep. Miniskirts helped him revive the prestigious couture clothing line.