This is another exhibition that I am very late to write about, but again, I can’t not talk about this designer.

Mary Quant could be seen to have revolutionised and sexualised fashion for young girls of the 60s. This was a really exciting exhibition for me as it showed me the starting points of fashions we see today.

My neighbour, Jennie, came with me to this exhibition. She was one of these young girls of the 60s and it was very insightful hearing her experience of Mary Quant while walking through the exhibition.

This designer had a clear point to her clothes, “relaxed clothes suited to the actions of normal life”. It seems like Quant designed her clothes to be practical and away from the constraints of previous underwear, such as the girdle or a corset.

You can see this practical nature in the type of materials that she uses. For example: jersey, PVC and wool. All of these materials had practical properties to them. Jersey helped women to feel more free and active in their clothes, whereas the wool was for the cold winter months we experience in the UK.

What interested me the most was that she was the first designer to use PVC in fashion. PVC is very helpful with the wet weather we have here but she used it very creatively. I remember seeing dresses made out of it, something we don’t really see in mainstream fashion at the moment.

The whole concept behind the brand was to make their clothes accessible for all. This included the pricing of their clothes, which were apparently fair and the shop on the Kings Road which included music and drinks.

She is definitely a designer to have a look at. She was key in establishing the 60s style and that Twiggy makeup look!