Blue plaque for mini-skirt pioneer Mary Quant

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Sep 17, 2019

A blue plaque has been unveiled on London’s King’s Road to mark the original site of fashion designer Mary Quant’s ground-breaking boutique Bazaar.

This has been a year of events for the 85-year-old English designer, who has been credited with initiating a fashion revolution with her playful approach to style.

Challenging conventions in the 1960s, she popularised tights, hot pants, the mini skirt and trousers, liberating styles that are now taken for granted.

Earlier this year, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London opened a major retrospective exploring her influential career, tracing her work from 1955 to 1975 to explore how she brought colour back to a post-war London.

In addition to the show, which is running until February 2020, the designer will receive the Lifetime Achievement at the World Fashion Awards this week.

Quant’s fashion revolution started in her Bazaar shops, the first of which opened in on King’s Road in 1955. A second branch was later added two years later.

Hugh Seaborn, chief executive of Cadogan said, “The King’s Road has a long, rich heritage as the home of innovation and inspiring trends. Dame Mary is an iconic character central to the Road, who revolutionised retail with immense global impact. 

“Today, the focus for retail is increasingly on creating immersive experiences, a strong sense of community and celebrating creativity – all values pertinent to her original trailblazing approach, that still resonate with the Road today and as we look to its future.”