Legendary fashion designer Dame Mary Quant dies aged 93
She died peacefully at her home in Surrey
Last updated 13th Apr 2023
The renowned fashion designer Dame Mary Quant has died at the age of 93 at her home in Surrey.
Quant was widely credited for popularising the mini skirt.
A statement released on behalf of her family said: "Dame Mary Quant died peacefully at home in Surrey, UK, this morning.
"Dame Mary, aged 93, was one of the most internationally recognised fashion designers of the 20th century and an outstanding innovator of the Swinging Sixties.
"She opened her first shop Bazaar in the Kings Road in 1955 and her far sighted and creative talents quickly established a unique contribution to British fashion."
She was one of the most influential figures in the fashion scene of the 1960s and is credited with making fashion accessible to the masses with her sleek, streamlined and vibrant designs.
"Fashion today owes so much to her trailblazing vision."
Born in south-east London on February 11 1930, Dame Mary was the daughter of two Welsh school teachers.
She gained a diploma in the 1950s in art education at Goldsmiths College, where she met her husband Alexander Plunket Greene, who later helped establish her brand.
Dame Mary was taken on as an apprentice to a milliner before making her own clothes and in 1955 opened Bazaar, a boutique on the Kings Road in Chelsea.
The official Twitter account of the Victoria & Albert Museum, which recently hosted an exhibition about Dame Mary Quant's designs, shared a tribute reading: "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.
"Fashion today owes so much to her trailblazing vision."
Alexandra Shulman, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, paid tribute to Dame Mary Quant following her death, writing on Twitter: "RIP Dame Mary Quant. A leader of fashion but also in female entrepreneurship- a visionary who was much more than a great haircut."