Barbara Mary Quant went down in history as a British fashion designer and fashion icon. She is one of the creators of fashion and youth trends. In the course of her creative experiments, Barbara designed shorts and a miniskirt, which became a real sensation in the world of fashion.
Londonka.uk will tell you more.
The beginning of the story
Barbara Quant was born on February 11, 1930.
Barbara studied at Blackheath High School. She wanted to study fashion, but the parents dissuaded their daughter from this idea. Therefore, the girl studied art and illustration.
However, Barbara didn’t give up her dream. Later, she decided to become a student of a famous London fashionista to learn more about this industry.
Business activity
Barbara managed to open her own boutique where she sold her own creations. Very soon, the clothes of the new designer began to attract attention. Mass media, such as Harper’s Bazaar, became interested too.
It is worth noting that at first, Barbara worked alone. But later, she decided to hire some assistants. In 1966, her team expanded to eighteen people.
Fashionable revolutionary
Barbara Quant was called a self-taught designer. In fact, that was true.
She wasn’t afraid to take risks, which was quite unusual at that time.
Barbara managed to make a real fashion revolution. She didn’t hesitate upon bold experiments. In particular, her tights of various patterns and colours became a real boom in the industry.
A unique place
It is interesting that the designer influenced society not only with her unique and unusual design.
Her boutique was a place with a special atmosphere. In particular, it offered music and drinks, which young people liked so much.
This place was truly unique at that time. It stood out significantly among contemporary department stores and shops of other designers, which were simply unavailable.
The display windows of Barbara’s boutique were decorated with mannequins in unusual poses. It attracted special attention. Therefore, people often stopped to look at all the details of the eccentric shop windows.
The famous designer
During the 1950s and 1960s, Barbara was considered a high-class London designer, who created fashionable youth clothing.
In 1966, the Women’s Wear Daily magazine published an article about Barbara and called her one of the fashion revolutionaries.
Scandalous product
The mini-skirt is considered to be directly related to Barbara Quant.
However, this item of clothing caused a lot of controversy among historians and fashion researchers.
In particular, Marit Allen claimed that the miniskirt was originally created by another British fashion designer, John Bates.
However, Barbara really played an important role in the development of the skirt.
After all, since the 1950s, skirts gradually became shorter and reached the midi length. But Quant really wanted them to be even higher and more comfortable. According to the designer, a mini-skirt is not only sexy but also practical, as it allows a woman to freely catch up the bus.
Barbara’s own opinion
Later, when the controversy about the origin of the mini-skirt only intensified, Barbara noted that its creators were other fashionistas of that time and not her.
According to the designer, she was only engaged in creating loose and simple clothes for youth that don’t limit the movements. She made the length according to her client’s order.
Very often, the girls asked Barbara to make the skirt even shorter. This is how mini-skirts began to appear.
Another dispute
Aside from the mini-skirt, another product that also caused numerous disputes was coloured tights. After all, Barbara often used them in her collections. Therefore, many began to believe that she is the creator of multi-coloured tights.
However, according to fashion historians, this trend appeared owing to the Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga. It was he who first showed the public patterned tights in 1962.
Photo source: wikipedia