MARY QUANT EXHIBITION - V&A

MARY QUANT EXHIBITION - VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM 

Quant's signature daisy

I visited the Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London in April, earlier this year. I really wanted to go to this exhibition as Mary Quant's era during the 1960s is particularly interesting for me. I find this youth-driven, Beatles-mad, Carnaby-street-idolised era quite fascinating. I had also focused on it during my textiles studies in A-levels and my final project on her was influenced by her iconic designs. This exhibition is still open to see now (which I would highly recommend visiting).

The exhibition showcased several rooms which showed off over 200 garments and accessories, from Quants famous mini-skirts and hot pants to her bright vibrant tights in multitudes of colours (pictured below). All of which were part of her hundreds of brightly-coloured and vibrantly patterned collections which make her so distinctively famous to this day, and reflected the outgoing era of the 1960s. 

A selection of Quants coloured tights 

 Exhibited was also an area showcasing her make up collection, which was of course before the days of hundreds of different make up lines and YouTube tutorials, teaching you an array of ways in which you can put it on. During this time, young adults interested in makeup had to follow the guides which Quant included in her packaging.

Something that really makes me idolise Mary Quant was her desire for her clothes to be inclusive to everyone (rather than just the wealthy upper class which was the case for the previous decades). But of course, more wealthy and upper class people shopped there too. This included members of the Beatles. Her 'Bazzar' shop on Kings Road was targeted at making affordable clothes for the youth of the era, and therefore selling designs with this target in mind. More specifically; the mini skirt, which was modelled at the time by famous models such as Twiggy. Such designs contributed to the youthful, fashionable and energetic era of the 1960s, which I love. 

Mini-skirted dresses being displayed

Also showcased was Mary Quants use of man-made fabrics in her designs during the 60s. Shiny, patent fabrics such as PVC, nylon and spandex were heavily used during the era to create easy-care garments that were eye-catching and fun. These are pictured below.

Some of Quants PVC mini-dresses

"The whole point of fashion is to make fashionable clothes available to anyone" - Mary Quant